






























“In the nr.me of heaven, white men, stop !” — Page 76 



The 

/ 

Boy Inventor’ s Wireless 
Triumph 


By 

RICHARD BONNER 




NEW YORK 

HURST & COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 



Copyright, 1912, 

BY 

HURST & COMPANY 



£CI.A314347 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER PAGE 

I. The Wireless at Lone Island . . 5 

IL The Mysterious X. Y. Z 19 

III. The Cipher Code 31 

IV. A Marine Game of Blind-Man^s 

Buff , • • 39 

V. A Shot in the Night .... 48 

VI. Ned Bangs" Story . . . i., . ,. 57 

VII. The Three Colored Gems ... 70 

VIII. On Board the 'Tarantula" . . 84 

IX. The Chadwick Gas Guns ... 98 

X. Drawing a Rascal"s Fangs . . . 108 

XI. The "Flying Road Racer" . . . 116 

XII. Herrera is not Caught Napping . 126 

XIII. A Daring Plan 135 

XIV. A Message from the Air . . 144 

XV. A Dash Aloft 154 

XVI. Into the Enemy"s Camp .... 163 
3 


4 

CHAPTER 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 


XVIL “Dad!— It^s Jack . ... ... . 
XVIIL Helmed in by Flames . .j . 

XIX. “Stand by for a Rope!’' . . . 

XX. A Rescue by Airship . v .i . i.. 

XXI. Aloft in the Storm . . . . . 

XXII. A Voyage of Terror . . . . . 

XXIII. The Boy Inventors Solve a Problem 

XXIV. An Appeal for Help ..... 

XXV. “It's Death TO Remain Here!” . . 

XXVI. An Astounding Discovery . . 


172 

180 

188 

197 

208 

216 

226 

239 

269 

282 


The Boy Inventors’ Wireless 
Triumph 

CHAPTER I. 

THIS WIREIvESS AT TONK ISLAND. 

The book Jack Chadwick had been reading, 
— a volume dealing with some rather dry ex- 
perimental work, — slipped from his fingers 
and fell with a crash on the floor of the ve- 
randa. At the sudden interruption to the sleepy, 
breathless calm of Lone Island on a July noon, 
his cousin Tom Jesson, sixteen, and more than 
a year Jack^s junior, looked up from the steamer 
chair in which he, too, was extended, with one 
of his quiet smiles. 

Suspending his task of wrapping some new 
condenser plates with glittering tin-foil, he gazed 


5 


THE BOY INVENTOES’ 


€ 

about him. In front of the bungalow was a 
strip of dazzling white sand, — the beach. Beyond 
shimmered the cobalt-blue waters of the Gulf 
of Mexico. At a small wharf lay a capable- 
looking motor cruiser, painted white and about 
forty-five feet in length. She had been moored 
thus for the past seven days — ever since Jack 
and his cousin and their colored attendant, Jupe, 
had landed on the island after an uneventful 
passage from Galveston. 

"‘Dozed ofif,’' chuckled Tom, regarding Jack 
as the latter’s eyelids closed drowsily; “well, I 
don’t know that I blame him. Waiting on Lone 
Island with nothing to do but read, eat and sleep, 
does get monotonous after a week of it.” 

Suddenly a gong, affixed to the freshly painted 
wall above their heads, broke forth in a wild, in- 
sistent clamor. 

“Clang! C-l-a-n-g! Clang! Clang! — Clang! 
Clang!” 

The effect on Tom was electrical. 

“L-I in the Continental Code!” he exclaimed, 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 


7 


springing to his feet. ''Hurray, Jack, old boy! 
Wake up! It’s our call at last!” 

Jack Chadwick galvanized from his nap into 
vibrant action with hardly less suddenness than 
had marked Tom’s arousing. Three times the 
gong, connected by an ingenious arrangement 
of Jack’s with his detector, beat out brazenly the 
call of Lone Island. Then came the signature : 
"S-K.” 

"Whoop! It really is the Sea King at last!” 
exclaimed Jack, his blue eyes dancing. The lees 
of sleep had cleared from them as if by magic. 

"Race you to the wireless station, Tom!” he 
shot out, jumping from the veranda without 
bothering about the steps. 

"You’re on!” was the instant response. Like 
a flash Tom was at his side. 

The few dozen yards between the bungalow 
and the shed of raw, resinous-smelling pine lum- 
ber that housed the wireless was covered in less 
time than it takes to tell it. Panting from their 


8 


THE BOY INVENTORS’ 


dash through the heavy sand the two lads flung 
themselves, shoulder to shoulder, at the door. 

‘'Dead heat!’’ laughingly proclaimed Jack, as 
he opened the portal and hastened to the array 
of shining instruments which occupied most of 
the space within. 

All this time, behind them, the bell had kept 
up its insistent tocsin. With a quick movement 
Jack “threw” a “knife-blade” switch. Instantly 
the resonant drone of a dynamo filled the small 
sun-heafed shack. Bending forward. Jack de- 
pressed the sending key. 

Flash! C-r-a-s-h! 

A wriggling snake of blue flame leaped, like 
a live thing, between the polished sparking 
points. 

Alternately pressing and releasing his key, 
Jack sent an answer to the message. With nim- 
ble fingers he directed the powerful electric im- 
pulses, which were winging into space from the 
lofty aerials stretched between their masts above 
the shed. 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 9 

While he did this with one hand, with the 
other he deftly adjusted the bright metal head 
band with its twin receivers that fitted over each 
ear. This accomplished, he drew toward him a 
pencil and a pad of paper. 

‘X-I! L-I! L-ir 

Crackling and squealing the powerful spark 
volleyed across the gap, and rushing into the 
aerials went flashing hundreds of miles through 
the ether. 

Then came a pause. Tom, his hand on Jack’s 
shoulder, leaned eagerly forward and over him, 
watching for the first words of the message 
from space to be written on the pad. 

All at once Jack began to write. His fingers 
flew fast in response to the flood of dots and 
dashes that came beating against his ear drums, 
transmitted by the sensitive diaphragms of the 
receivers. 

To an untrained ear the soft tappings would 
have sounded as vague and undefined as the foot- 
steps of a fly on a sheet of sensitive matter. But 


10 


THE BOY INVENTORS’ 


to Jack, the whisperings winging their way in 
three hundred meter waves through space were 
as clear as a story read aloud. 

As he wrote, shoving his pencil over the sheets 
as fast as he could, Tom began to gasp. 

''Great ginger-snaps Y' he choked out, and then, 
"Well, we were sighing for action, and it looks 
as if we^ll get it in big, juicy chunks before we’re 
much older.” 

While the message, destined to have such an 
important effect on their immediate future, is 
still pulsing through the air, we will take the op- 
portunity to place the reader in closer touch, so 
to speak, with our two lads. Jack Chadwick, 
then, was the only son of Professor Chester 
Chadwick, an inventor, whose various discov- 
eries in many mechanical fields had resulted in 
gaining him a handsome fortune. Jack’s mother 
had died when he was a tiny lad, and, as he was 
an only son, he had been brought up in constant 
association with his father. Almost as soon as 
he had mastered his earliest lessons Jack was 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 


11 


familiar with his parent's laboratory and work- 
shop, and Mr. Chadwick, delighted at the inter- 
est the boy displayed in science, had made him a 
close companion. 

When Jack was twelve years old a new interest 
entered his life. His cousin, Tom Jesson, came 
to live with them at Mr. Chadwick's handsome 
home on the outskirts of Boston. Tom was the 
son of Jasper Jesson, the noted traveler, and, like 
Jack, he was motherless. Mr. Jesson had, some 
time before, accepted a commission from a scien- 
tific institute to travel and collect antiquities 
in the then little-known territory of Yucatan. 
From this expedition he did not return within 
the year allotted him to complete his researches. 

Time went on and no word came from him, 
and at length he was given up for lost even by 
the most hopeful of his friends. And thus it 
was that his son Tom, then ten years old, came 
to High Towers, Mr. Chadwick's estate, even 
then known as the home of a famous inventor. 
And so Jack and Tom had practically grown up 


12 


THE BOY mVENTOES’ 


together in close association and with kindred 
interests. 

To two lads of inventive mind, no more de- 
lightful field for their experiments could have 
been imagined than High Towers. A park of 
some fifty or sixty acres surrounded the house, 
which, among other features of a country estate, 
possessed a small lake. On this sheet of water 
Jack and Tom tried out models of a dozen dif- 
ferent kinds of craft before they were fourteen. 
Professor Chadwick gave them practically ‘The 
run’’ of his workshops and experimental sheds, 
besides instructing them in scientific investiga- 
tions. 

Among other things, the lads had constructed 
a complete miniature railroad on the grounds, 
and had also built gliders of various types. But 
their most recent “craze” had been wireless 
telegraphy. With a dozen lads of their own age 
they had formed a “Wireless Club,” which met 
at High Towers every month. But, with the 
summer vacation, the members of the body had 


WIEELESS TEIUMPH 


13 


scattered, leaving only Jack and Tom to carry 
on the work. As Professor Chadwick stinted his 
son in nothing pertaining to his chosen pursuits, 
the two lads had assembled as complete an ama- 
teur station as could be found in the country. 

In addition to the latest instruments and appli- 
ances, their natural ingenuity had enabled them 
to invent several additional features, some of 
them patentable, — as, for instance, the call-bell 
which tapped out the mysterious summons to the 
island station. 

Which brings us back to Lone Island and to 
an explanation of how the two lads and Jupe, 
their faithful colored attendant, happened to be 
quartered on this low-lying, sandy, rather deso- 
late patch of land off the coast of Texas, not 
far from the mouth of the Rio Grande. The 
islet belonged to Professor Chadwick, being part 
of an estate which had been owned by his wife, 
the daughter of a Texas cattle man. The lads 
had already camped there a winter, and knew the 
vicinity well. 


14 


THE BOY INVENTOES’ 


About two months before this story opens, 
Professor Chadwick had left home, bound, so 
he informed the lads, on a biological investiga- 
tion cruise among the Florida Keys and the West 
Indies. The lads had heard nothing more of 
him, or of his steam yacht, the Sea King, 
with the exception of a letter from Key West, 
and another from the island of Jamaica, stating 
that all was going well. 

Imagine their bewildered astonishment and 
excitement therefore, when, two weeks before, 
a brief letter came to High Towers telling them 
to proceed, with Jupe, to Galveston, where the 
motor cruiser Vagrant would be awaiting them. 
Their instructions continued to inform them that 
they were to equip the Vagrant with wireless, 
and also purchase a portable bungalow and shed, 
with which to establish a wireless station on 
Lone Island. The letter, signed by Professor 
Chadwick, closed in his customary abrupt man- 
ner, without vouchsafing any explanation of his 
orders. 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 15 

But Jack and Tom hardly needed any. The 
letter opened up before them a delightful vista 
of fun and adventure. 

‘'Just fancy, a wireless island all to ourselves V 
Jack had exclaimed as the boys joined hands in 
a wild war dance of delight. They had pleasant 
recollections of former jolly days in camp on 
the Gulf. 

The letter enclosed a liberal draft on Professor 
Chadwick’s bank, and within forty-eight hours 
after receiving the missive which was to mean 
so much to them, the two cousins and chums, 
with the faithful Jupe attending them like a black 
shadow, were off for Galveston. On arrival 
there they went to the boatyard mentioned in 
the Professor’s letter, where they found the 
Vagrant , — the smart craft already mentioned as 
lying at the Lone Island wharf, — already 
equipped for sea, awaiting them. 

To install a wireless plant on board did not 
take long. The most difficult part of their task 
lay in finding a suitable mast for the support of 


16 


THE BOY INVENTOES^ 


the aerials. Jack solved this problem by con- 
structing a telescopic staff of steel tubing which, 
when not in use, could be lowered to a height 
of twelve feet. In use it could be raised to an 
altitude of sixty feet, giving a very fair radius 
of scope. 

The materials for the wireless on the island, 
like those for the floating plant, had been 
brought from Boston. But the portable shack 
and bungalow were purchased in Galveston. 

The Professor’s letter had instructed the lads 
to wait on the island for a message by wireless. 
Now it had come; come, too, with a startling sud- 
denness that might be likened to a jolt. Tom, 
watching Jack’s fingers with burning eyes, 
finally saw this message inscribed on the receiv- 
ing pad : 

'Xone Island Station. — Proceed with all speed 
to Long. 96° W. by Lat. 27° N. Urgent. 
We are in dire peril. — Bangs, operator Sea 
Kingr 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 


17 


The patter of the electric waves against the 
receivers ceased. No further word came, and 
Jack, after a brief interval, took off the head- 
piece and laid it down beside him on the table. 
For an instant the message, so utterly, wildly 
different from any they had expected, almost de- 
prived him of speech. 

Now his faculties rushed back, but he did not 
speak. Instead, he grounded the aerials by 
throwing the switch, and leaped to his feet with 
such impulsiveness that the stool on which he 
had been sitting went careering to the floor. 

''Come on, Tom,” he cried, darting for the 
door. 

As he ran he stuffed the message into the 
pocket of his linen jacket. Tom shot out of the 
shack after him. 

"Yot^ better lock ” he began. 

"Send Jupe to do it,” was the backward flung 
rejoinder, as Jack sprinted for the bungalow, 
"weVe got to get grub on board and fill the water 
tanks within fifteen minutes.” 


18 THE BOY INVENTORS’ 

''And then what?’’ 

"To sea — at top speed ! The best the Vagrant 
can do will be none too quick ! They need us out 
there,” he flung his arm seaward in an embrac- 
ing gesture, "need us mighty bad, and it’s up 
to us to make a record run to the rescue.” 


WIEELESS TEIUMPH 


19 


CHAPTER 11. 

THS; MYSTI^RIOUS X. Y. z. 

*^They said nothing as to what was the mat- 
ter?’' 

Tom propounded the question ten minutes later 
as the two lads busied themselves in the after 
cabin of the Vagrant, stowing provisions hastily. 

‘‘No, not a word. If only I could have got in 
communication with them again I might ” 

At this point a very black, very round, very 
good-natured negro countenance appeared in the 
companion way above them. 

“Ah’se done locked up, Marse Tom. Anyfing 
else yo’ all might be requirmentin’ ob?” 

“No, Jupe. I guess we’re about ready for a 
start. Let’s see,” and Jack rapidly ran over a 
mental list of what they had on board. 

“Yes,^ we’ve got everything. The water tanks 
are full, plenty of gasolene, — it’s a good thing 


20 


THE BOY INVENTOES^ 


we brought that extra stock from Galveston, — 
grub, O. K., and — better get forward and start 
the motor up, Tom/' 

Tom needed no second bidding. He shot up 
the companion way three steps at a time, almost 
upsetting Jupe, who stood at the summit on 
deck. He scurried to a hatchway forward of 
amidships and dived below. A hasty glance over 
the forty horse-power, four-cylindered, four-cycle 
engine showed him that everything was in work- 
ing order. An adjustment of the force-feed lubri- 
cator, a swift examination of the magneto, a few 
turns of the starting apparatus, and a rhythmic 
series of explosions as the crank shaft began to 
revolve, and the Vagrant was ready, so far as 
her machinery was concerned, to begin her dash 
across the Gulf. 

In the meantime, Jupe had been hustled ashore 
by Jack, who had taken up his position at the 
wheel, and in a very few seconds the lines that 
held the motor cruiser to the wharf were cast 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 21 

off. Jupe made a flying leap aboard as the tide 
swung the Vagrant from her resting place. 

At the same instant Jack jerked the bell pull, 
which signaled Tom in the engine-room below to 
throw in the clutch, and as the propeller began 
to revolve the Vagrant backed slowly out. In a 
few minutes Jack rang in the ''Go-ahead’’ signal, 
and swinging the doughty little craft in a short 
semicircle, the young captain headed her almost 
due S.E. 

Tom emerged on deck wiping his hands on a 
bit of waste. 

"Everything all right below?” inquired Jack 
as his cousin took up a position beside him. 

"Running like a dollar watch,” was the re- 
sponse. 

"How much speed can we get ?” 

"Well, twelve knots is her registered gait, but 
I might coax a bit more out of her.” 

"Try and get all you can.” 

"I will. What time do you think we ought to 
reach the vicinity of the Sea Kingf^^ 


22 


THE BOY INVENTORS’ 


'Ht's a trifle over a hundred miles to the spot 
at Avhich she gave her bearings/’ 'was the re- 
sponse, with a glance at the chart which lay ex- 
posed in the uncovered case in front of the wheel. 
‘Tt’s now just one o’clock. Say, about midnight.” 

^Thew ! You propose to pick up a yacht, whose 
location you know only vaguely, in the dark?” 

'‘Not so dark, either. There’ll be a moon at 
ten-thirty. Anyhow, if we keep right on this 
course we’re bound to come within a few miles 
of the given bearings.” 

'T guess that’s so. Well, I’m off below to 
watch the engines.” 

"Better start the dynamo and get some ‘juice’ 
into the storage batteries. I mean to try the 
wireless again before long.” 

Tom nodded, and vanished below once more. 
Jupe came forward from the stern, where he had 
been coiling lines and generally setting things to 
rights. 

‘‘Marse Tom,” he said, with some hesitation, 
"is dere any objection to informationing me con- 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 23 

cerning de percise objec’ ob dis here penguina- 

tionr^ 

‘Why, no, Jupe,’’ rejoined Jack, with a smile 
at the old negro’s remarkable choice of what he 
himself would have called “highfaluting” words, 
“the Sea King, with my father on board, as you 
know, is in some sort of trouble, and we are going 
to the rescue as fast as we can.” 

“How you find out dat, Marse Jack?” asked 
the old man, with a tinge of suspicion in his voice. 

“By wireless, Jupe.” 

“What!” in a tone of frank unbelief, “yo’ all 
mean ter tell me dat dat birdcage rigamarole ob 
yo’s done tell yo’ all dat?” 

“That’s right, Jupe.” 

“Sho’ now! Yo’ ain’t foolin’ de ole man, 
Marse Jack? Dat conjo’ wire done tell yo’ all 
dat?” 

“Of course. I should have thought that you’d 
seen enough of it at High Towers to know what 
it could do.” 

“Humph !” the old negro scratched his head in 


THE BOY INVENTOES’ 
a puzzled way, ‘'yo’ mean dose eccentrical wabes, 
as yo’ call ’em, done come all de way frum 
Marse Chadwick’s boat to de island ?” 

‘^ust what I do, Jupe. It’s the same thing as 
chucking a stone in a pond. You know how the 
waves and ripples spread out and out in circles 
that get bigger and bigger?” 

‘‘Ya’as, sah.” 

‘Well, it’s the same thing in wireless. Instead 
of a pond you’ve got the air, or the atmosphere; 
instead of a stone, you’ve got an electric impulse 
from the antenna.” 

“An’ when dat eccentric ’pulse go ’way from 
dose — dose — aunties, it jes’ spread and spread 
like de ripples on a pond?” 

“Yes. The waves spread till they strike an- 
other wireless apparatus ‘in tune’ with them.” 

“An’ yo’ birdcage fiddle was tuned to de same 
pitch as de Sea King's?'' 

“That’s right, Jupe. You’re catching on fast. 
We both use three hundred meter waves. That 


WIEELESS TEIUMPH 25 

was agreed upon. Thus, you see, our station 
caught the message from the disabled yacht.’’ 

‘‘Humph! But s’pose dere was some odder 
station dat had its fiddle tuned de percise same 
way ?” 

“Why, then they’d have caught the message, 
too.” 

“An’ dey’d know, too, dat de po’ Sea King 
done busted ?” 

“I suppose so, — ^yes. But why do you ask?” 

“Fo’ jes dis reason, Marse Jack, — if any ob 
dem ole wreckers dat used ter hang about dese 
parts got dat message, maybe dey gwine ter go 
out dere, too.” 

“I guess not, Jupe. I never heard of any such 
rascals who had a wireless equipment.” 

“Den how ’bout dat po’ful mysterious X. Y. Z. 
I done heard yo’ an’ Marse Tom talkin’ ’bout at 
supper de odder night?” 

“Oh, X. Y. Z. !” exclaimed Jack with a laugh ; 
“well, he is a mystery for a fact. Some amateur 
on shore or some place, I suppose, who just hap- 


26 


THE BOY lYVENTOES’ 


pened to get tangled up with our waves when we 
were practicing/’ 

The ''X. Y. Z.” referred to had made himself 
manifest three days before, while Jack and Tom 
were conducting some experiments with their 
sending apparatus. In the midst of their work 
a confused sound had broken in upon them, and 
Jack, on tuning his apparatus to catch the 
''stranger” waves, had intercepted an apparently 
meaningless message signed X. Y. Z. The mes- 
sage consisted of a jumble of numerals which, 
the two lads had little difficulty in deciding, was 
a code of some sort. The catching of such mes- 
sages being common enough in the north, they 
gave the matter little more thought and, in fact, 
till Jupe mentioned it. Jack had not recollected the 
occurrence at all. Now, however, as Jupe moved 
off forward to complete his work, he caught him- 
self wondering who X. Y. Z. might be. He 
wished that they had taken down the intercepted 
message and devoted some of their leisure time 
to deciphering it; but the urgent business now in 


WIEELESS TRIUMPH 27 

hand soon drove such thoughts out of the young 
navigator's head. 

Tom reappeared on deck, the inevitable bit of 
waste in his hands. 

‘T've adjusted the magneto," he announced, 
‘'and I guess we're turning over a bit faster than 
ordinary." 

“Good for you," nodded Jack approvingly, 
“every minute counts on a job like this." 

At every turn of the shaft Jack's heart was 
bounding with keen anxiety. The same might be 
said of Tom's condition. The very vagueness of 
the message from the air, fraught as it was with 
the sense of disaster, added to their mystification 
and eagerness to reach the scene. 

But mingled with all this, as the two lads stood 
side by side on the miniature bridge of their 
speedy little cruiser, was a fierce sort of pleas- 
ure as they sped through the rolling swells of 
the gulf, hurling white masses of foam aside 
from the sharp “cutwater." 

Behind them the coast line lay like a dim gray 


28 


THE BOY INVENTORS’ 


scarf stretched along the blue horizon. The 
keen, ozone-laden wind struck their faces with 
an invigorating tang. It was great, glorious, 
exciting to be out here on the broad bosom of 
the gulf, guiding a speedy motor craft toward 
unknown adventures. The zest of achievement, 
the glory of grappling with obstacles as yet un- 
seen and hardly guessed at, ran hot in both boys’ 
veins. Fast as the Vagrant was, she seemed to 
them to crawl, and yet, thanks to Tom’s skill as 
an engineer, she was reeling off her thirteen 
knots with the regularity of a sleeping infant’s 
breathing. 

‘‘Jupe!” called Jack presently, "'come aft and 
spell me at the wheel for a while. I’m going to 
send a few questions into the air,” he added to 
Tom. 

"Good. We’ve got plenty of 'juice.’ Shall I 
go below and send up the mast?” 

"Yes. Better run it up to its full height. It 
won’t hurt in this light breeze, and I want all 
the radius I can get.” 


WIEELESS TEIUMPH 


29 


'‘Right you are/’ 

Tom descended once more. The base of the 
telescoping aerial mast was in the forepart of 
the engine-room. A hand winch operated it 
much in the same manner that a fire department’s 
extension ladders are sent aloft. It did not take 
Tom long to extend the slender, yet pliant and 
strong steel spar heavenward to its fullest length. 

At its truck, or summit, was a pulley, through 
which halyards attached to the aerials had been 
rove. Jack had gotten these out while Tom had 
been busy below, and in a remarkably short time 
the slender antenna, or aerials, were strung from 
mast tip to deck. There were four separate 
wires of stranded phosphor bronze attached to 
wooden spreads, and properly insulated. From 
them a wire led back to the instruments attached 
to a table in the forepart of the cabin. 

The aerials being up Jack, after satisfying 
himself that everything was shipshape, made for 
the cabin. Seating himself at the wireless table 
he sent a signal crashing out into space. 


30 THE BOY INVENTOES^ 

^‘S-K! S-K! S-Kr 

Then, after a pause: — 

There followed a period of listening, with the 
receiving switch over and the "Vatch-case’’ re- 
ceivers closely clamped to the young operator’s 
ears. But no answer came. 

A worried look crept over Jack’s countenance. 
This silence was ominous. Once more he ma- 
nipulated the key with nimble fingers. The spark 
squealing and crackling shot bluely hither and 
thither. 

But to the electrical appeals sent broadcast into 
the atmosphere, space vouchsafed no answer.^. 


WIEELESS TEIUMPH 


31 


CHAPTER III. 

THE CIPHER CODE. 

A sudden break in the rhythmic pulse of the 
engine reached Tom's alert ears at this instant. 
Without speaking he hastened from the cabin to 
the engine-room, using, for this purpose, a door 
cut in the forward bulkhead. He found that one 
of the cylinders was missing fire and traced the 
trouble to a badly sooted plug. 

While he was adjusting the trouble Jack stuck 
to his key. He would pound out his ''S-K" call 
furiously for an interval, and then listen intently 
for even the faintest indication of a response. 
The lad tried various adjustments of the poten- 
tiometer, which regulates the voltage and cur- 
rent supplied to the detector, and operated his 
receiving tuning coil in various ways. But 
though he tried for wave lengths from two hun- 


32 


THE BOY INVENTOES’ 


dred meters up to fifteen hundred, not a whisper 
came out of the void of silence about them. 

'Til call once more,’’ said the lad to himself 
in a determined voice, "it’s our duty to do all we 
can and keep at it all the time. Of course, if the 
Sea King has met with a really serious disaster 

her wireless may be out of order and Hullo ! 

Here’s something coming now !” 

Something was coming, sure enough! 

As Jack clamped the receivers to his ears a hail 
of dots and dashes beat against his organs of 
hearing. Somebody was transmitting a message 
at a furious rate. Expert as the lad was, it was 
all he could do to make head or tail of it. His 
pencil fairly flew over the recording pad, and 
when he got through he had nothing for his 
pains but a sheet covered with figures, and again 
that annoyingly mysterious signature X. Y. Z. 

Tom had returned to the cabin while Jack’s 
pencil was scurrying across the paper. He leaned 
over the other lad’s shoulder and watched in- 
tently. When Jack stopped and affixed the sig- 


WIEELESS TEIUMPH 


33 


nature X. Y. Z., he looked up at his cousin won- 
deringly. 

‘It’s X. Y. Z. again. He was sending like blue 
blazes, too. What do you make of it?” 

“Blessed if I know. Using his cipher again, 
too, isn’t he? Say, Jack ! See here, — X. Y. Z., — 
whoever he is, — is within our radius right now 
— at this instant. Call him, and see if you can 
find out who or what he is and where his station 
is. If the Sea King is badly off he may be of 
great assistance to us.” 

Jack switched his current over for sending out 
a call. With a puzzled frown on his face he 
adopted Tom’s suggestion. 

“X-Y-Z! X-Y-Z! X-Y-Z!” he flashed out, 
and then added the signature “L-I.” 

“Now to see if we get any result,” he said, ad- 
justing the receivers to his ears and throwing the 
switch for the detection of a reply. He had not 
long to wait. 

“L-I ! L-I ! L-I ! — X-Y-Z !” came billowing 
through the ether, “what do you want?’" 


34 : 


THE BOY INVENTOES’ 


“We are proceeding to rescue of disabled yacht 
Sea King” flashed back Jack. “Where are you? 
Can we rely on you for help ?” 

A long silence followed. Then the Continen- 
tal code began to throb and beat in the receivers 
once more. 

But it was another question that came. 

“Where is yacht Sea King?” 

Jack flashed the bearings as he had received 
them earlier in the day, and then repeated his 
former question. But no reply came. For an 
instant the lad thought he had got out of tune 
with the wireless mystery, but although he ran 
the gamut of the tuning coil, nothing more came. 
For all that was further heard of him, X. Y. Z. 
might have been as intangible as the atmosphere 
out of which he had projected his questions. 

For half an hour or more Jack persisted in his 
endeavors to reach X. Y. Z. again, but finally 
gave it up as a bad job. Grounding his current, 
he laid down his head band and swung in his 
chair. 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 35 

'Xost him?’’ inquired Tom. 

“I’d rather say that he lost us,” responded 
Jack, “it must have been a deliberate cut-out. 
One second he was coming strong and then — 
silence. How do you figure it, Tom ?” 

“I don’t attempt to. I give it up, unless X. Y. 
Z. is some sort of a wireless lunatic.” 

Jack gave a rather mirthless laugh. 

“Hardly. Or, if so, I begin to fear there is 
some method in his madness. You notice that 
he only seemed to want to find out the exact posi- 
tion of the Sea King?” 

He indicated the writing pad on which the en- 
tire conversation was recorded, as was the young 
inventor’s wont. 

Tom nodded. 

“I see that plain enough. I am inclined to 
think. Jack, that you made a big mistake in giv- 
ing that chap the location of the Sea King” 

“You do? Why?” 

But as he spoke there came into Jack’s mind an 


36 - THE BOY INVENTORS’ 

uncomfortable recollection of what Jupe had 
said about wreckers. 

'H don't know just why/' was Tom's frank re- 
sponse; ''didn't you ever have a feeling that 
somehow something you had done had been, — 
quite unintentionally, — a bad blunder?" 

"I know what you mean. I wish to goodness 
we knew who this X. Y. Z. was, — or is." 

"Easy to find out." 

"Easy to find out!" echoed Jack with a fine 
note of scorn, "about as easy as — as " 

"Translating that cipher," broke in Tom. "If 
we can read it we may have a good clew to Mis- 
ter X. Y. Z. and his doings." 

Jack laughed aloud. 

"Yes, 'if,' " he said mockingly, "and if " 

"I think I can do it," said Tom quietly. 

"You do! Well, tackle it at once, then. I'm 
kind of worried, I don't mind telling you, about 
that chap and his questions." 

Tom picked up the sheet of paper with the 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 37 

numbers inscribed on it in a seemingly hopeless 
jumble. 

‘^1^11 take it to the engine-room with me and 
try to work it out and keep an eye on the motor 
at the same time. I like tackling propositions of 
this kind.’’ 

‘"Yes, you always were a nutcracker at school; 
but I fancy you’ll find that the toughest yet.” 

“I’m not so sure about that. Ciphers divide 
themselves up into groups pretty well, and I’ve 
half an idea that this is a very common one. 
Suppose you take a look at Jupe and take the 
wheel while he gets supper.” 

“By ginger, I’d forgotten all about that till 
this moment.” 

Jack glanced up at the clock affixed to the 
bulkhead. 

“Almost five o’clock. Time has flown cer- 
tainly. Well, good luck, Tom, with that mess of 
figures, and if you find out anything from them 
about X. Y. Z. you’re entitled to a big hunk of 
credit on a silver platter.” 


38 THE BOY INVENTORS^ 

Jupe, so Jack found, had kept the Vagrant on 
her course to a hair's breadth. The old fellow 
had been a sailor in his younger days, and the 
waters they were now traversing were not unfa- 
miliar to him. He hailed the news that he was 
to get supper with pleasure, however. 

'‘Ah'll cook yo' boys as fine a meal as yo' ebber 
sat down to," he promised, as with a broad grin 
he surrendered the wheel and made aft to the 
galley, which was a small room forward of the 
cabin and between it and the engine-room. 

It was an hour later that Tom appeared on 
deck with a knitted brow, and several sheets of 
paper covered closely with -cabalistic figuring, 
‘Well?" said Jack. 

“Well, I've worked it out, and— — " 

“You know who X. Y. Z. is, I hope?" 

“Why, no," was the response in a puzzled tone, 
“I don't know who he is, but I've learned consid- 
erable of what he is, — and I don't much like it." 


WIKELESS TRIUMPH 


39 


CHAPTER IV. 

A MARINE GAME OE BUND-MAN'S BUEE. 

Jupe’s summons to supper ended the talk for 
the time being, and the two lads went below to 
eat a hearty meal while the colored man took a 
spell at the wheel. After supper they emerged 
on deck again, and as Jack took the helm Tom 
drew up a camp stool beside him, and seating 
himself, spread the figure-covered sheet of paper 
out on the chart case. He then switched on the 
shaded light, which caused a soft glow to reveal 
the cabalistic scribbling clearly. 

"'Now then,’’ he began, "in figuring out a 
cipher of this sort the first thing to do is to note 
what figure appears most frequently. Having 
ascertained this, it is safe to assume that such 
a figure stands for the most frequently occur- 
ring letter in the language, — always provided, of 
course, the message is in English.” 


40 


THE BOY INVENTORS’ 


'Well?'' interrogated Jack. 

'We know that the most frequently used vowel 
in English is E. And, by the way, this transla- 
tion proved fairly easy, because the transmitter 
of the message made a gap between each of his 
groups of figures, showing that each collection 
stood for a separate word." 

"I noticed that, — go ahead." 

"I was trying to show you something of the 
method ; but I guess you've about grasped it. In 
figuring out the cipher I made groups of all the 
numerals occurring in your transcript of the 
message, and found that the number 'five' ap- 
peared most often. I assumed, then, that it stood 
for B. Working in this way, I found that the 
first word of the message was The. That Th 
stuck for some time, till I saw that the figures 
Twenty-five' had been used to express the pho- 
netic sound of Th. 

"This gave me a valuable clew. I wrote down 
The and then passed on to the next words. Fig- 
uring as before, I assigned the number 'three,' 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 41 

which appeared alone, to the letter C. I was 
puzzled for a minute. 'The C didn’t seem to 
mean a whole lot, but I let it go and passed on 
to the next word. Using my system I spelled out 
King, and then, of course, I realized that the C 
was a phonetic rendering for the first part of the 
yacht Sea King's name.” 

‘'Great guns!” gasped Jack, “then they are in- 
terested in dad’s craft and ” 

“Wait a while; let me get the rest of it off my 
chest. I’m not going to tire your patience out 
by going through every step. I’ve told you 
enough to show you my method. As I got further 
combinations it became more and more simple till 
I finally had this message figured out : — 

“ ‘The Sea King is disabled. Trying to get 
bearings from you know who. Vagrant left 
Lone Island this P. M. going to rescue. You had 
better make all speed or they will beat you out. 
Am proceeding. X. Y. Z.’ ” 

Jack’s lips emitted an amazed whistle. 

“What sort of a maze have we blundered 


42 THE BOY INVEYTOES’ 

into?’" he exclaimed. ''This X. Y. Z., who is he? 

Who was he talking. to? What are they after?"’ 

"All of which questions will be answered by 
the time we arrive at the scene of the wreck, I 
imagine,” quoth Tom with a dry intonation; "in 
the meantime, it looks as if we are 'if in this 
marine game of blind-man’s buff.” 

"That’s the name for it, all right,” assented 
Jack, peering at his compass card. "Tom, old 
lad, I’ve a presentiment that we are going to 
blunder into something that will call for every 
bit of ingenuity and courage we possess.” 

"And in the meantime,” said Tom, "it’s up to 
me to keep that motor turning over as she never 
turned before.” 

"Um, — well, beyond knowing that X. Y. Z. is 
a dangerous factor, or seemingly so,” mused 
Jack, "we are about as far off as ever from 
knowing just where he fits into the problem.” 

The night wore on, and still the Vagrant 
churned her way steadily across the dark waters 
of the gulf under the brilliant white stars of the 


WIEELESS TRIUMPH 


43 


southern sky. The phosphorescence slid by her 
in fiery green streaks as she cut her way along, 
and from time to time Tom emerged from below 
and '^spelled’’ his cousin, and comrade, at the 
wheel. At ten o’clock Jupe served coffee and 
biscuits on the bridge, and shortly thereafter 
Jack had another try with the wireless. But 
space, as before, was mute as the Sphinx. From 
out of the darkness came no whisper as to the 
nature of the enigma into which the situation, 
evolved by that first message from the air, had 
developed itself. 

Eleven o’clock came, and both boys commenced 
to strain their eyes into the velvety blackness 
ahead. 

‘We ought to be picking something up before 
long,” observed Jack, “unless — unless ” 

His voice shook a bit. Between this lad and 
his father there was a deep bond of affection. 
Their close association had riveted the lad’s love 
for his parent even more strongly than is the 
case with most boys. As they neared the location 


44 THE BOY INVENTOES^ 

where the yacht ought to be discovered, a feeling 
of painful suspense clutched coldly at his heart. 
Nor was Tom’s agitation much less. But the 
younger lad was more accustomed to suppress his 
feelings than Jack. He stood by his cousin’s side 
with tightly closed lips, as the Vagrant throbbed 
onward, but through his brain, like fires in a 
blast furnace, a constant succession of anxious 
thoughts flashed and agitated. 

''Unless what. Jack?” said Tom at length. 
"Unless — gracious, Tom, suppose — supf^ose 

that the Sea King has ” 

There was no need for him to conclude the 
sentence. Tom knew well enough what the other 
dreaded. The ominous silence after that first 
message, the lack of any signals from the dis- 
abled craft whose vicinity they must be close to 
now if she were still afloat — all these things in- 
duced a gloomy presentiment of evil which Tom, 
no more than Jack, was able to shake off. 

"It isn’t possible that she has proceeded?” 
mused Tom. 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 45 

‘‘Not likely. As I understood that message 
the location was given us so that we could make 
direct for her. If she had been capable of pro- 
ceeding under her own steam, surely she would 
have made for Lone Island.'’ 

“If only we knew something of the object of 
Uncle Chester's mission, we might form a clearer 
idea of what has happened out here," ventured 
Tom. “One thing is certain, the Sea King hasn't 

struck a rock " 

Jack laughed mirthlessly. 

“There isn't a reef or a shoal within a hun- 
dred miles of her bearings, as given to us," he 
said ; “that's what makes the whole thing such 
a baffling puzzle. Her boilers and machinery 
were new. I don't see what can have happened 
to them, and surely if the accident had been of 
that nature, the despatch would have said so. 
It's just the vagueness of the whole thing that 
worries me." 

“Complicated by Mister X. Y. Z., whoever he 
may be," supplemented Tom. “Do you know, 


46 THE BOY INVENTOES’ 

Jack, Fve got a hunch that we are destined to 
see that individual before very long?’’ 

A sudden yell from Jupe, who was at the bow 
keeping a keen lookout according to instructions, 
cut the night. 

“Marse Jack! Marse Tom! Look! Look 
dere, yondah !” 

There was no need for Jupe to explain himself. 
Dead ahead, and directly on the Vagrmifs 
course, a bright streamer of flame slashed the 
sky like a scimitar of fire. 

''A rocket!” exploded Jack. 

As he uttered the exclamation the skyward end 
of the flaming ribbon burst into a diadem of 
brilliant scarlet stars. 

''Here, take the wheel,” choked out Jack, seiz- 
ing Tom by the shoulder and shoving him into 
the helmsman’s place. 

With nimble fingers he unlaced the canvas 
covering of the Vagranfs searchlight, snapped 
the switch on with a tiny sputter of green sparks, 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 


4 ' 


and the next instant a pencil of white light was 
sweeping the darkness ahead. 

Back and forth it swept and suddenly steadied. 
As it did so the boys uttered a simultaneous 
exclamation of amazement. Into the field of 
light had suddenly swung, not the expected out- 
lines of the Sea King, but the form of a low craft 
without masts or funnels, rushing, at what ap- 
peared to be terrific speed, toward the northeast. 


48 


THE BOY INVENTOES’ 


CHAPTER V. 

A SHOT IN the: night. 

‘^Jove burst from Jack’s lips, ^‘what on earth 
is this fresh complication?” 

He had hardly spoken before there came a 
crash of glass close to his hand, and something 
flew whistling by him. At the same instant the 
searchlight was extinguished, and from seaward, 
where they had last seen the speeding craft, canae 
a dull ‘^B-o-o-m!” 

"‘Knocked that searchlight into smithereens,” 
was Tom’s exclamation as old Jupe, with an 
alarmed cry, came running forward at the sound 
of the screaming projectile and the splintering 
glass. 

“At any rate,” was Jack’s grim retort, “they’ve 
shown us their hands. Tom, old chap, this thing 
is going to be bigger than we thought.” 

“You think then ” 


WIEELESS TEIUMPH 49 

''That we are not the only persons interested 
in the Sea King. If I don’t make a big mistake, 
that shot was a message from our friend X. Y. 
Z.” 

"It looks like it,” admitted Tom; "oh, if we 
could only glimpse the Sea King!'' 

"The rocket came from her. I’m sure of it. 
She must have mistaken the lights of that ma- 
rine raceabout for our signals.” 

"Let’s try an answering rocket,” suggested 
Tom. 

"Won’t do any harm. Jupe, quit shivering like 
a jellyfish and get the rockets out. Two will be 
enough. Tom, you rig the tube.” 

The firing apparatus, a cylinder of galvanized 
iron, was speedily rigged in place, and by that 
time Jupe, whose face was an ashen gray tinge, 
reappeared with the rockets, two powerful sig- 
naling instruments, two feet or more in length. 

"All right, Tom, touch them off,” came from 
Jack, as the younger lad proclaimed that all was 
ready. 


50 THE BOY INVENTOES’ 

There was the sputter of a match, a burst of 
yellow flame and then, almost instantly, a roar 
and a shriek as the first of the signals shot aloft, 
trailing a long tail of golden fire. At two hun- 
dred feet it exploded in a shower of blue stars. 
Almost simultaneously, it seemed, another clus- 
ter of red stars were spattered over the sky. 

“Hurray ! That's the Sea King, sure enough !" 
cried Jack; “see, they've answered us. Crowd 
her as much as you can, Tom, it's a race for all 
we're worth now." 

“I can get a bit more speed, but it means over- 
heating the engines," warned Tom. 

“Never mind that. Put us alongside the Sea 
King ahead of that other chap, and I don't care 
if you blow the engines up," was the curt re- 
joinder. 

Tom shrugged his shoulders as he went be- 
low, but a few seconds later the dial hand of the 
patent log crept up a notch. 

“Fourteen knots !" exclaimed Jack, with a note 
of satisfaction, “we'll beat her out yet." 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 51 

All at once, from out of the obscurity, a grim 
possibility materialized. Rushing straight for 
the Vagrant came a sharp bow, with a wave of 
white phosphorescent foam curling away from 
it on each side as it cleaved the swells. 

‘'Great guns! They’re trying to ram us!” 
gasped out Jack as he sensed the meaning of this 
new peril. 

He seized up the speaking tube and bellowed 
down to Tom with all the force of his lungs. 

“Back ! Back her for our lives !” 

Round spun the spokes of the wheel fast as a 
revolving squirrel’s cage. The Vagrant's for- 
ward way was checked, but not wholly. To 
Jack’s horror it seemed impossible that the other 
vessel could fail in her evident object of ramming 
the smaller craft. 

Less than a few score of feet separated them 
now. He could hear the hiss of the other craft’s 
cutwater as it rushed down on them. 

“Golly to goodness, Marse Jack, dey sink us fo’ 


52 THE BOY INVENTOKS’ 

sho’/' wailed Jupe, dropping to his knees in ter- 
ror on the bridge. 

Jack vouchsafed no reply. But the next in- 
stant he felt like giving a shout of joy. The 
backward revolving propeller of the Vagrant 
was ''biting’’ the water. The motor craft’s for- 
ward impulse was checked. She hesitated, 
stopped, and slowly her bow began to swing. It 
was not a second too soon. As the Vagrant 
swung off, the other craft tore by at a vicious 
speed, and Jack saw that her bow was shaped 
like a man-of-war’s "ram.” So closely did she 
race across the Vagrant's bow that he could see 
dim figures on her bridge, and could catch a tor- 
rent of maledictions, as those in command of 
the strange vessel saw that their evident purpose 
had been frustrated. 

At the pace she was going, Jack realized that 
it would be some moments before she could be 
put on another tack for a fresh onslaught. 

"Ahead! Come ahead!” he shouted down the 
tube, and t’.e propeller of the Vagrant began to 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 53 

churn in a forward direction once more. The 
lads’ craft forged forward, crossing the troubled 
wake of the vindictive stranger. 

''Glory be!” breathed old Jupe fervently; "ah 
could heah de angels’ harps dat time, Marse 
Jack.” 

"I don’t know that I wasn’t in the same mental 
condition myself,” rejoined Jack, with a nerv- 
ous laugh. His hands shook and his heart beat 
thickly. The escape had been narrow enough to 
unnerve older and more experienced persons than 
this boyish captain. 

"Ahoy !” came a sudden voice out of the dark- 
ness ahead, "what craft’s that?” 

"The Vagrant r hailed back Jack, with a glad 
ring in his tones ; "is that the Sea King?” 

"Aye! aye! Thank heaven, you’ve come — in 
time,” was the answering hail from the yacht. 

A moment later, against the stars. Jack could 
trace the spidery outlines of the larger vessel’s 
spars and wireless aerials and rigging. 

"This is Jack Chadwick,” he shouted, not giv- 


54 


THE BOY lYVENTOKS’ 


iiig a thought to the stranger craft now, but in 
a torment of anxiety to know what it all por- 
tended, ‘'is my father on board?’’ 

There was a pause. Across the water there 
came a confused murmur of voices, but what 
they said was not audible. 

''Sea King, ahoy!” hailed Jack impatiently, “is 
my father on board and well ?” 

“Your father is well, we hope, but he’s not on 
board,” came back the reply in somewhat hesi- 
tating tones. 

“Not on board!” stammered Jack, feeling for 
an instant as if he had been struck a heavy blow, 
“then where is he?” 

“Come alongside, Master Jack,” was the re- 
sponse, “there’s a lot to be told.” 

The black hulk of the Sea King was plainly 
visible now, and Jack, steering carefully, with 
one hand on the engine-room signaling device, 
skillfully maneuvered the Vagrant alongside of 
the bigger craft. As he did so an accommoda- 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 


55 


tion ladder was lowered, and several heads ap- 
peared along the yacht’s rail. 

*^Stop her,” chimed the signal. 

Then came the ot*der to reverse and then 
'^stop” once more. Jupe, with a line in his hand, 
leaped for the accommodation ladder. Tom, 
emerging on deck, took in the situation in a 
glance and made for the stern. He hurled an- 
other line, which was caught from above. In as 
short a time as it takes to tell it, the Vagrant was 
snugly moored alongside her larger consort. 

Jack, with his head in a whirl, stepped from 
the bridge. Tom was at his side in an instant. 

''Is all well with Uncle Chester ?” he demanded 
impatiently. "Is he on board ?” 

"No, he isn’t,” came the staggering reply, in 
a voice that was half a sob. It was a bolt from 
the blue that had assailed the lad, and who will 
blame him for being utterly unnerved by the 
blow fate had just dealt him. 

Tom was silent for an instant. Tidings that 
stun have a way of sinking in slowly. Then, as 


56 THE BOY INVENTOES’ 

the two lads stood at the foot of the ladder, he 
flung his arm around Jack’s shoulder, and from 
his gritted teeth came speech : 

^Hf harm has come to him. Jack, those who 
have caused it will have to pay — and pay bigT 

And so the two lads ascended the ladder to the 
Sea King*s deck, followed by the awe-struck 
Jupe. 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 


57 


CHAPTER VI. 

N^D bangs' story. 

It was Ned Bangs, the boyish wireless opera- 
tor of the Sea King, who met them at the head 
of the ladder. Behind him pressed a ring of 
curious faces, the bronzed countenances of sea- 
men. Some incandescents had been switched on 
as the newcomers gained the deck, and in the 
yellow light Jack saw that all the faces that 
gazed into his bore the unmistakable stamp of 
agitation. 

Bangs, besides being the wireless operator of 
the Sea King, was something more. He had 
been a pupil of Professor Chadwick's and a 
school fellow of Jack's, and was quite a scientific 
adept along the lines he had chosen to follow. 

But Jack and Tom exchanged merely hasty 
words of greeting with the youngster who stood 


58 


THE BOY INVENTOKS’ 
facing them, pallid-faced under his coat of tan 
and shaken evidently by some recent shock. 

“What is it, Ned? What has happened?'' de- 
manded Jack eagerly, as soon as the boys had 
clasped hands. “Where is father? Why are you 
out here alone?" 

“It's — it's a long story. Jack," half-stammered 
Ned. “I — I'm afraid that we who are here on 
board don't show up to very good advantage in 
it. But you must be the judge of that. Shall 
we go below, where we can talk?" 

There was a reticence, a hesitancy in his tones 
that irritated Jack, overwrought as he already 
was. 

“I asked you a question, Ned," he said in sharp 
tones, very unlike his usual affable ones, “where 
is my father ?" 

“I saw him last near Yucatan," burst forth 
Ned miserably. 

The reply was so utterly unexpected that it 
fairly took Jack and Tom off their feet. Ned had 
not seen fit to supplement his statement, but stood 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 59 

there with that same shamefaced expression play- 
ing over his visage. 

‘^And you — you left him behind there broke 
out Jack, guessing part of the truth. 

^^We couldn^t help it,’^ wailed Ned wretchedly. 
‘Wait till I tell you about it.’’ 

Jack’s head swam. Behind the vague words 
he sensed a tragedy of some sort in that mysteri- 
ous country which had already, so it was thought, 
claimed the life of Tom’s father, Mr. Jesson. 

“How did the Sea King come to be off Yuca- 
tan?” inquired Jack, “her course, as laid out, was 
far to the east of that country.” 

“I know that,” replied Ned; “but a gale blew 
us off our reckonings, and into as strange and 
terrible a series of adventures as you ever heard 
of in the wildest fiction.” 

“Tell us about it,” demanded Tom crisply, cut- 
ting short Ned’s rather hysterical outburst. 
“Come below, into the cabin. It is important 
that we should know everything as soon as pos- 
sible.” 


60 


THE BOY lYVE^^TOKS’ 


''This way/’ said Ned, stepping toward the 
stern. 

But Jack paused. 

"An attempt was made to ram the Vagrant 
to-night,” he said, "by a queer, but extremely 
speedy craft. Do you know anything about her, 
Ned?” 

"Do I know anything about her ?” 

A quaver of indignation injected itself into 
Ned’s voice. 

"Well, I should say so,” he went on; "that’s 
the vessel of that scoundrel Herrara, the cousin 
of the governor of Yucatan, which, as you know, 
is at present a province of Mexico, but, so far 
as civilization is concerned, parts of it might as 
well be in the wilds of Africa.” 

Tom had been fidgeting excitedly. The name 
of Yucatan had called up a swarming crowd of 
memories of his father, the long missing ex- 
plorer. 

"Had my uncle’s visit to Yucatan anything to 
do with my father’s disappearance?” he asked. 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 


61 


‘‘Everything/’ was the rejoinder, in steadier 
tones than Ned Bangs had yet assumed. The 
presence of the self-possessed cousins, and their 
infectious manner of quiet ability, had braced the 
unstrung lad up wonderfully. 

“It was to rescue your father from 

“Then he is alive?” burst in Tom, aglow at 
the wonderful news. 

“So there is every reason to suppose,” was 
Ned’s reply. 

Without giving him time to say more, the 
cousins, having ordered the crew to keep a keen 
lookout for the speedy “ram” craft and notify 
them instantly of its appearance, half dragged 
Ned below, and shoved him into a chair in the 
comfortably furnished main cabin of the Sea 
King, 

“Now then,” said Jack, “tell us everything, 
Ned, from the beginning. But first you are rea- 
sonably certain that both my father and my uncle 
are alive?” 


62 THE BOY INVENTORS’ 

''There is practically no doubt of that/’ was 
Ned’s response. 

"Then fire away,” ordered Tom, seating him- 
self beside Jack, opposite the still badly shaken 
Ned Bangs. 

"We left New York at the time you know,” 
commenced Ned, "and cruised for some time in 
the West Indies, your father. Jack, making stacks 
of observations and records. We met many in- 
teresting adventures, but I’m not going to detail 
all those now. But, although your father seemed 
to be immersed in his scientific observations, 
there were several things unexplained about the 
Sea King's equipment. 

"In a sort of well amidships was stored the 
aero-auto with which you had been experiment- 
ing before he left High Towers.” 

Jack nodded. He knew the wonderful craft 
had been placed aboard, but had understood it 
had been taken along for private demonstration 
purposes. 

"You mean the air and land craft driven by 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 


63 


the gas generated from radolite crystals?'' he 
asked. ‘‘The Flying Road Racer, as we called 
it." 

“Yes," rejoined Ned, “I guess that's it. But 
I reckon you know more about that than I do. 
since you invented it. Anyhow, the aero-auto, 
as Professor Chadwick called it, was installed 
in this well, or pit, amidships, which had evi- 
dently been prepared for its reception in ad- 
vance." 

“And it's still there?" inquired Tom sharply. 

“Still there. Whatever Professor Chadwick 
intended to use it for, he had no opportunity to 
try it out before — before what I'm going to tell 
you occurred. Then, too, I noticed that several 
chests containing articles whose nature was a 
mystery to me were stored in a sort of lazaretto 
under the cabin floor. Whatever their contents, 
they were evidently too precious for Professor 
Chadwick to let them out of his sight." 

“Wait a second," interrupted Tom, “I want to 


take a look outside." 


64 


THE BOY INVEHTOES’ 


In a moment he was back and dropped into his 
place with an '‘All’s well!” 

"Never mind details now. Get ahead to Yuca- 
tan,” exclaimed Jack impatiently. 

"Fm getting there,” protested Ned, a look of 
what was almost horror passing over his face at 
the mere mention of the name. "The storm I 
referred to before, struck us when we were off 
the southernmost point of Florida. It was a 
terror of a rip-roaring hurricane. All we could 
do was to head up into the mountainous seas and 
run the engines at a quarter speed. We battled 
with the hurricane thus for four days, and then 
MacDuffy, the engineer, came on deck one morn- 
ing with a white face and the news that the main 
shaft was cracked. It had been unable to with- 
stand the pressure of the racing propeller every 
time the Sea King*s stern lifted out of the seas. 

"Luckily, the wind had moderated a bit by 
that time, and we set the try sails. Under these 
we staggered along at a four-knot gait for what 
seemed an eternity of time. In reality it was 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 


G5 


about five days. One morning, when the storm 
had about blown itself out, the lookout shouted 
that land lay ahead. Sure enough it did. A strip 
of gray on the horizon ; and I can tell you it was 
a mighty welcome sight. 

''Captain Andrews, our sailing master, an- 
nounced that the coast was, in all probability, 
that of Yucatan, and from what he told us of it 
we could not well have struck a more useless 
stretch of country to us, situated as we were. But 
'it’s any port in a storm,’ said the skipper, and 
we made for the land, staggering along under 
our clumsy rig. 

"That night we anchored off a wild, desolate- 
looking coast, without a trace ^f human habita- 
tions being visible an^Qvh^e. However, we 
found a bay which, ia,|ter careful soundings from 
the boats, proved to have sufficient depth of water 
to harbor the Sea King snugly. Here we dropped 
anchor, and mighty glad we were to have struck 
a haven at last, I can tell you. 

"Next day the chief came to your father and 


66 THE BOY INVENTOES’ 

told him that he thought he could clamp a metal 
collar round the break in the shaft and make it 
practically as good as new. To our astonish- 
ment, Professor Chadwick did not greet the news 
with any special enthusiasm. 

'You may as well take your time, Mr. Mac- 
Duffy,’ says he, 'for it is probable that we shall 
remain here for quite a considerable period.’ 

" 'A considerable period, sir !’ exclaimed Mac- 
Duffy in some surprise. 'Do you mean to ex- 
plore yon forsaken land in the interests of sci- 
ence ?’ 

" 'It seems to me, MacDuffy,’ answered Pro- 
fessor Chadwick (MacDuffy told me all this 
later), 'that fate has brought me here. A very 
dear and a very near relative of mine vanished 
in this part of Yucatan many years ago. When 
we set out on this cruise I had an idea that per- 
haps I might undertake to go in search of him, 
or, at least, to discover some trace of his fate. 
That accounts for the aero-auto which, as 
you know, my son Jack and I invented, and also 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 67 

explains those chests which contain several more 
of our inventions suitable to such an expedition/ 

‘'The Professor went on to say that now that 
he found himself off the very land which held the 
secret of Mr. Jesson’s fate, he didn’t mean to 
leave without making an attempt to solve it. 
From this determination he was not to be swayed, 
and the next day one of the boats set him and 
three of the crew, Abner Jennings, the boatswain ; 
Jack Allworthy, the second engineer; and Ezra 
Kettle, a Maine man and a staunch seaman, 
ashore. We watched them from the Sea King 
as they dragged the boat up on the beach and 
set off into the jungle, beyond which lay the 
misty blue outline of a range of huge hills. 

“Without the slightest warning, and just as 
they were about to plunge into the thick brush, 
the mangroves and scrub vegetation parted, and 
a score of savage-looking Indians rushed out. 
We saw your father and the others try to parley 
with them, and then, before we could even train 
a gun on the scene, the thing happened.” 


68 


THE BOY INVENTOES’ 


He paused for an instant, overcome by the rec- 
ollection of that tragedy on the Yucatan beach. 
Immediately Jack jumped to his feet. 

'TVe forgotten the 'enemy’ outside. Hold on 
a minute,” he called as he dashed away to the 
deck. "The watch may be all right,” he con- 
tinued, when he returned, "but there’s nothing 
like one’s own eyes. Go on, Ned.” 

"Poor Kettle went down, transfixed by a spear 
in the first few seconds after the encounter. 
Professor Chadwick’s intention had merely been 
to reconnoitre in preparation for an expedition 
later on. Not expecting trouble, none of the 
party was armed. Allworthy dashed back to the 
boat and seized up an oar. He did valiant serv- 
ice with it before he, too, was felled by a spear- 
thrust. In the meantime. Professor Chadwick 
and Abner Jennings had been captured, notwith- 
standing their stout resistance. Then they were 
dragged off into the jungle, while we stood half- 
paralyzed with horror at the suddenness and dis- 
astrous consequences of the attack. 


WIEELESS TEIUMPH 


69 


‘'The last we saw of your father, Jack, he was 
motioning back to us to put out to sea. Brave to 
the last, he thought of us before himself.'’ 

Ned stooped and placed his hands over his 
eyes as if to shut out the picture his words called 
up. Jack Chadwick sat staring vacantly at the 
paneling of the cabin, not daring to trust his 
voice to speech. Tom, not less affected, gripped 
his cousin's hand. 

“Remember, old chap," he murmured, “that 
Ned told us some time ago that there was reason 
to believe that your father was still alive." 

“Fm coming to that," said Ned, raising his 
head and proceeding with his narrative. 


70 


THE BOY INVENTORS’ 


CHAPTER VII. 
the: three: colored gems. 

‘Tt was MacDufify/’ continued the lad, ‘Vho 
organized an expedition to go to your father’s 
rescue. There was MacDuffy, Captain Andrews, 
four seamen and myself. The rest were left in 
charge of the Sea King, the engine-room force 
having instructions to proceed with the repairs 
to the shaft, which were really simple enough, 
consisting only of bolting a collar of metal around 
the split. 

'We were heavily armed, as you may imagine, 
and after we had landed in the light boat, we 
stowed it in the brush where it would not be 
likely to be discovered by marauders. The other 
boat, the one in which your father landed, had 
been stove in by those rascally natives. Our first 
task after this, was to bury poor Kettle as de- 
cently as we could. This done, we took up the 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 


71 


trail, which was plain enough to follow. In fact, 
we learned afterward, it was a regular path that 
the natives followed when they came to the coast 
after turtles and fish. 

‘‘Danger? Well, we knew we were going into 
a desperate game, but, as MacDuffy said, we 
couldn’t do otherwise than our best to rescue your 
father. As we made our way through the jun- 
gle we discussed the situation. It looked black 
and no mistake. In the first place, as Captain 
Andrews pointed out, the revolution was raging 
in northern Mexico, and Diaz, in his last desper- 
ate stand, had withdrawn troops from every 
province in Mexico. Captain Andrews told us 
that the descendants of the Mayas, who inhab- 
ited this part of Yucatan, were endowed with a 
fierce hatred of Mexicans and white men in gen- 
eral, and that they had been kept in subjugation 
solely by the presence of large bodies of troops. 
With this menace to their warlike ideas with- 
drawn, the Mayas were probably ripe for any 
mischief. 


72 


THE BOY INVENTOES’ 


''All this, as you can imagine, didn't tend to 
raise our spirits, and the prospect of rescuing 
your father began to seem remote indeed. Well, 
to cut a long story short, we followed the trail 
for two days till we began to arrive in the foot- 
hills of the range we had seen. Occasionally 
we came across what were evidently the sites of 
recent camps, so we knew that we were on the 
track all right. 

"The third day, about noon, we marched right 
out of a canyon, threaded by a swift river, into 
an Indian settlement. Before we could say 
'knife,' or raise a weapon, we were surrounded 
and made captives. We were thrown into a 
palm-thatched hut and placed under strict guard, 
and we faced the prospect of a speedy death. But 
at the moment we thought little of these matters, 
for the hut already contained three other cap- 
tives, and they were Professor Chadwick, Abner 
Jennings and Jack Allworthy, the last wounded 
in the shoulder by the spear thrust that had 
knocked him down, but luckily not seriously. 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 73 

^^You can guess how delighted we were in the 
first few moments, and then how depressed we 
all became as we began to realize that so far as 
an escape was concerned we might as well have 
been imprisoned in an iron-walled dungeon. We 
were deprived of nothing in the way of food, and 
were not bound in any way, but the hut was sur- 
rounded by too strong a guard to make any idea 
of escape practicable. So the night passed, a 
night that we spent in discussing and rejecting a 
hundred plans of escape, for each, in turn, was 
discarded as hopeless. 

‘'But, although we did not realize it, freedom 
for some of us was close at hand. Shortly before 
noon the sky became black as night. A scream- 
ing sort of wind arose, and suddenly we felt the 
ground under our feet beginning to rock. It 
didn't take us long to catch on that the disturb- 
ance was caused by an earthquake of uncommon 
severity. The natives began to howl and yell, 
and rushed about like madmen. That wind sud- 
denly picked up our prison and whisked it off, 


74 


THE BOY INVENTOES’ 


just as it might have dealt with an umbrella. And 
there we stood, in the middle of all this commo- 
tion, unbound and practically free to go where 
we would, for the natives were far too busy at- 
tending to their own affairs to worry about us. 

"Hn the middle of the uproar and the convul- 
sions of the earth, a whole section of the cliff 
which upreared itself at the back of the settle- 
ment, slid down with a roar like a hundred Ni- 
agaras. It caught that village, just as a big rock 
would smash an anthill. We escaped by the skin 
of our teeth, but, as it was, we were showered 
with flying rocks and earth. Luckily, none of us 
was injured. 

“But those poor natives fared otherwise. Of 
the scores that had been rushing about an 
instant before hardly twenty remained. One of 
these was a big fellow, with a beautiful copper- 
colored skin, clad in a sort of garment made out 
of jaguar hide. He separated from the rest, and 
we saw that he carried under his arm a large 
box, or case, which gleamed dully in the gloom. 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 


75 


‘He’s making for the canoes !’ shouted Mac- 
Dulfy suddenly, and then, sure enough, we saw 
what we hadn’t noticed before in all that hurly- 
burly, namely, that several dugouts were moored 
to the river bank. I guess we all caught the in- 
spiration at the same instant. Anyhow, we be- 
gan running for the bank at top speed. But sud- 
denly that copper-colored giant faced about, and 
we now saw that he carried a whole quiver full 
of those poisoned darts that the Maya tribes use 
with deadly effect. 

“Before he could aim one, or shout to the rest 
of the villagers, who hadn’t noted our escape, Ab- 
ner Jennings flew at him like a wildcat. Down 
he went, bowled over like a ninepin, under a 
crashing blow from Jennings’ fist. 

“ ‘Hurray, lads ! Now for the boats !’ shouted 
Allworthy, and we scampered after him toward 
them. But at that instant a queer thing hap- 
pened. A man came racing toward us from 
amidst the ruins of the village. 


76 THE BOY lYVENTOKS" 

'Get him !’ yelled Allworthy savagely, as 
Jennings stooped and picked up a big rock. 

"But the next instant his hand dropped to his 
side. The man was white ! In spite of his half- 
naked condition and sun-browned skin, it was 
clear enough that he was as much of a Caucasian 
as any of us, and then came the wonderful part 
of it all. 

" Tn the name of heaven, white men, stop !’ he 
shouted, 'take me with you. J am ’ ’’ 

"Jasper Jesson!’’ 

It was Tom Jesson who had uttered the ex- 
clamation. In a flash of intuition he had seen 
what was coming before Ned uttered it. The lad 
literally quivered with excitement as he spoke. 

"Right. It was your father, Tom,’’ rejoined 
Ned. "Professor Chadwick stopped, ran back 
and embraced him. For a minute we all stood 
stock still, rooted there by sheer amazement, I 
guess. Well, we got to the canoes and set out 
down the river. There were four dugouts, and 
the way they dashed down that stretch of water 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 


77 


was a caution. No need to paddle. The cur- 
rent just tore along for several miles. I don't 
see how it was we didn't upset,, but the fact re- 
mains that we didn't. Pretty soon we reached a 
part of the stream where another flowed into it, 
and it broadened out and grew calmer. 

''Then, for the first time, we felt free to talk. 
We hauled the canoes ashore and camped while 
we discussed plans. But first, you may imagine, 
we heard Mr. Jesson's story. He had been cap- 
tured by the tribe who had trapped us, soon after 
his arrival in the country. And their prisoner 
he had remained since. Undoubtedly he would 
have been put to death, but he had by great good 
luck managed to translate some cryptograms 
carved in the marble stones of some ruins in the 
mountains, and after that they looked on him as 
a sort of god. At any rate, he was well treated, 
but given no chance to escape. The earthquake 
that had set us loose had proved his opportunity, 
too. Of course, it's no use my trying to give you 
any idea of his delight and astonishment at find- 


78 THE BOY INVENTOKS’ 

ing his brother-in-law and getting news of you, 

Tom, and of the old home. 

‘‘He had just about concluded his story, when 
Mr. Chadwick drew from under his coat that 
same metal box that we had seen the big copper- 
colored fellow skedaddling with. He had taken it 
from the chap as he lay stunned, rightly guessing 
that it was of immense value. But he was far 
from surmising what it was he had really dis- 
covered, till a few moments later. 

“ ‘Maybe, Jesson,’ he said, ‘you can tell me 
what kind of a box this is. It’s silver, all right, 
for one thing, but it’s covered with some sort of 
picture writing, too, and ’ 

“But Tom’s father interrupted him with a 
shout. 

“ ‘Good heavens, man !’ he exclaimed, ‘you’ve 
got hold of the holy of holies of the Zakaks,’ — 
that’s the name of the tribe that had hooked us. 

“While we all looked on with open mouths, 
Mr. Jesson broke a long thorn off a prickly bush 
growing near at hand and shoved it into a small 


WIEELESS TKIUMPH 


79 


hole in the front of the box. The lid flew open, 
and there inside was something that made us 
blink our eyes, — a blood-red stone, a blue one, 
and a gorgeous green gem. 

‘We all caught our breath, I can tell you. Each 
stone was as big as a pigeon’s egg, and it didn’t 
take an expert to tell that we had before us a 
ruby, a turquoise and an emerald that had, prob- 
ably, not their equals in the world. 

“Then Mr. Jesson told us how the tribe had a 
legend that those stones were brought from some 
mysterious land beyond the seas by their fore- 
runners, and that if they were stolen or lost dis- 
aster would overtake them. At certain phases 
of the moon, he said, the stones were worshiped 
with all sorts of queer rites that he had not been 
permitted to witness. 

“We, none of us, could guess what they were 
worth, but it was a safe estimate that they rep- 
resented a snug fortune. As for the box itself, 
it was, as I said, of dull silver, with three sort 
of oval bosses or bumps on its cover. These were 


80 


THE BOY INVENTOES’ 


of a reddish color, and were evidently of no value 
except as ornaments. After some more talk it 
was decided to make for the Texan coast, and as 
soon as we had regained the yacht, get into wire- 
less communication with you lads. 

''Professor Chadwick explained that he had 
had a half-formed intention of attempting to find 
Mr. Jesson before he left America, and for that 
reason had sent you boys to Lone Island so that 
he might notify you of his success by wireless as 
soon as possible, without letting the general pub- 
lic know, and also have you handy in case of an 
emergency.’’ 

"So that explains Lone Island,” struck in Jack, 
"but go on, Ned. I can hardly wait for the rest 
of your story.” 

"Neither can I,” added Tom; "but aren’t you 
fellows surprised that we don’t hear anything 
from outside?” 

"It is strange,” agreed Jack. "I’ll run up 
again soon.” 

"Well,” continued Ned, "we knew that by fol- 


WIEELESS TRIUMPH 


81 


lowing the river we must emerge on the coast, 
probably near to the spot where the yacht was 
anchored. We therefore lost no time in re- 
embarking and getting on our way once more. 
Luckily, there was some food, bananas and dried 
flesh of some animal, — deer, most likely, — in the 
canoes, which must have been provisioned for a 
trip. So that night, when we camped, we had a 
good supper, with something left over for the 
next day. 

'We slept under the canoes, turning them keel 
up to form a protection from the dews, and also 
from any prowling animals. The spot we had 
chosen was well back in the brush, so that in case 
of pursuit we had a good hiding place. But we 
slept without interruption, taking watch in turn. 
The next morning, before it was well light, we 
set out down the river again, and that afternoon 
we had reason to think we were close to the 
coast. The character of the jungle on either side 
of the river changed and the stream grew wider 
and more sluggish. 


82 


THE BOY INVENTORS’ 


far we had had no indication that we were 
not the only human beings in that part of the 
country, so you can imagine our astonishment 
when, about mid-afternoon, on rounding a bend 
in the stream, we beheld a squat, drab-colored 
craftj without spars or funnel, moored to the 
bank. It didn't need a second glance to tell us 
that she was a fighting craft of some kind. On 
her decks were the outlines of several rapid-fire 
guns shrouded under canvas covers. Her bow 
was shaped like a ram, and we could see by the 
rows of rivets along her sides that she was built 
of steel. 

^That's one of the new shoal-draft, gasolene 
gunboats, built for the Diaz government at the 
Vulcan yards in Charlestown,' declared Profes- 
sor Chadwick at once. 

“He had hardly spoken when several of the 
crew, who had been lounging about the decks, 
saw us coming. There was an instant stir on 
board the ugly-looking craft, and presently the 
figure of a small, dark-skinned man, with a black. 


WIKELESS TRIUMPH 


83 


pointed beard and moustache, and heavy, sinister 
eyebrows, appeared on the bridge, which was 
just forward of a sort of conning tower. 

^'He wore white garments and a broad-brimmed 
Panama hat. As soon as he appeared he hailed 
us. 

‘Come alongside, gentlemen,’’ he said, using 
almost perfect English. ‘I welcome you to Bl 
Tarantula' " 


84 


THE BOY INVENTOKS’ 


CHAPTER VIII. 

ON BOARD ''rut TARANTUIvA.^" 

few moments later/’ continued Ned, ‘Ve 
were standing on the deck of the sinister-looking 
craft, confronted by her equally sinister-looking 
owner, for such we soon found he was, in fact, 
if not in name. From him we speedily learned 
that not only was he the governor of that part 
of the province of Yucatan, but that he also con- 
trolled large plantations near the mouth of the 
river. The principal produce of these was sisal 
hemp, a well-known and valuable product of the 
country. 

‘'Naturally, we supposed that as soon as we 
had told our story, the first act of Ramon Her- 
rera, for such he informed us was his name, 
would be to aid us in reaching our yacht. But 
the event proved exactly to the contrary. 

“ ‘You will take up quarters for the present on 


The rascal Herrera^ commander of El Tarantula, the Mexican 
gasolene gunboat. 



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WIEELESS TEIUMPH 85 

my yacht, gentlemen,’ he said, in a tone almost 
of command. 

''Professor Chadwick started to protest, but 
met with a stern interruption. 

" 'My country is in the throes of a revolution,’ 
Herrera said, 'and at the present time it is un- 
known to me whether your United States of 
North America is involved in the trouble or not. 
It is my belief, and that of many of my country- 
men, that the massing of troops on the Texan 
border, by orders of your President Taft, is a 
menace to the Diaz government, and an encour- 
agement to the revolutionaries. This being so, you 
must regard yourselves as my guests, — I will not 
use an uglier word, — till such time as I receive 
further advices. Furthermore, I do not mean to 
make any secret of my dislike for meddling Yan- 
kees.’ 

" 'Sir,’ exclaimed Professor Chadwick, 'you 
are deliberately insulting.’ 

" 'Senor Yankee,’ was the calm reply, 'you 
have deliberately intruded yourself into a coun- 


86 


THE BOY mVENTOKS’ 


try where you and your inquisitive countrymen 
are not wanted/ 

“ 1 am not aware by what right you dare to 
assume such an attitude toward us/ resumed 
Professor Chadwick, now thoroughly aroused, 
and, indeed, we were all at the boiling-point, as 
you can imagine. Herrera’s every word seemed 
to be a deliberate taunt. 

H assume my attitude, as you call it, by 
right of might,’ was the cold reply, ^my ancestor, 
General Jose de Guzman Herrera, was slain by 
your Yankee soldiers in the Mexican war. Judge, 
then, if I have any reason to favor Yankees.’ 

‘You are likely to pay dearly for this forci- 
ble detention of peaceful citizens of a republic 
at peace with your country,’ warned Allworthy. 

“Herrera shrugged his shoulders. 

“ ‘I’ll take my chance of that,’ he said, ‘be- 
sides, as I remarked before, I am not so certain 
that my country and your country are not by 
this time at war.’ 

“Well, there was nothing more to be said, and 


WIEELESS TEIUMPH 87 

determined to make the best of our situation we 
went docilely enough to the quarters that Her- 
rera had provided for us, which consisted of 
three cabins in the extreme stern of the ship. 
Captain Andrews, MacDuffy and I were thrust 
into one cabin, your father and Mr. Jesson into 
the next compartment, and Abner Jennings and 
the two sailors into a third stateroom. 

^‘Here was a pretty kettle of fish, and a fine 
ending to our hopes of reaching the coast, which, 
we were confident, was not far distant. From 
scraps of conversation we overheard, for there 
were gratings above each stateroom door, we 
learned that the Tarantula was tied up to the 
shore bordering on one of Herrera’s plantations. 
We heard later that the slaves, — ^most of them 
Mosquito Coast negroes illegally impressed as 
slaves, — had made some trouble, and that Her- 
rera was here with his armed craft to suppress 
the uprising by stern means. What these means 
were we found out later, and without going into 
detail, we heard enough to know that the mon- 


88 


THE BOY INVENTOES^ 


ster, — as we subsequently found him to be, — 
spared no form of cruelty to browbeat his luck- 
less servitors into submission. All this was trans- 
lated for us by Captain Andrews, who spoke 
Spanish fluently. 

'We might have been confined in our narrow 
quarters for an hour, or it might have been 
longer, when we heard the door of the adjoin- 
ing stateroom unlocked, and presently voices 
came to us through the grating. It was easy to 
recognize Herrera’s tones as he cross-examined 
Professor Chadwick. One of the Mexican sailors 
had noticed that when the professor came on 
board he had slipped a silver chest — the treasure 
box — under his coat. The fellow had informed 
Herrera, and now that arch-scoundrel was de- 
manding that Professor Chadwick and Mr. Jes- 
son submit to being searched. 

'T can tell you we exchanged blank glances 
when we overheard this. It seemed pretty tough 
that, after all we had gone through, we were to 
be robbed of what was bound to prove a substan- 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 89 

tial reward, for Professor Chadwick had insisted 
that we agree to take an equal share with him, 
having participated in his dangers. 

''But to our astonishment the search evidently 
resulted in nothing being found. For before 
long we heard Herrera bursting out into Spanish 
oaths. He wanted to know what had become of 
the box. 

" 'If you had asked me before,’ Professor 
Chadwick replied, 'I would have told you. I 
threw it overboard rather than let it fall into your 
hands.’ 

"We listened for an outburst or worse right 
then. But none came. The rascal, in whose 
power we were, evidently didn’t know the value 
of the silver box, for he merely remarked that 
Professor Chadwick’s act would not improve our 
situation, and left the cabin. But we, in the ad- 
joining stateroom, again exchanged blank 
glances. It was no joke to think of that fortune 
in magnificent stones being consigned to the 
muddy depths of that Yucatan stream. 


90 THE BOY INVENTORS’ 

''A short time after Herrera had left the cabin, 
however, Professor Chadwick climbed up on a 
bunk in his stateroom, and placing his lips to the 
grating informed us that he had not, in reality, 
hurled the box overboard, but that it was sus- 
pended outside the porthole of his cabin by a fine 
bit of cord which he had happened to have in his 
pockets. The porthole was beneath the over- 
hang of the stern of the gunboat, and unless any 
sailor went prying about under the vessel's coun- 
ter there was not much likelihood of its being 
discovered. The Professor informed us also that 
he was determined not to purchase our liberty at 
the price of the precious stones. 

'This is the twentieth century,' he said, 'and 
I refuse to believe that this rascal, for such Her- 
rera has shown himself to be, will dare to hold 
captive free American citizens for any length of 
time.' 

"We agreed with him in this, but MacDuffy, 
who, as an engineer, possessed with an investi- 
gating turn of mind, still busied himself, as he 


WIKELESS TRIUMPH 


91 


had since the moment of our imprisonment, with 
trying to find some means of escape. There was 
a nine-inch porthole in our stateroom, and also 
in the other two. But, of course, this offered no 
opportunity for escape. By peeping out through 
it, however, we could see that our dugouts had 
been attached to the stern of the Tarantula by a 
line. If we could only reach them we might be 
able to attain freedom. 

“All at once MacDuffy uttered an exclamation. 
He had discovered that under the porthole was a 
square plate, bolted into the stern frames, and 
seemingly devised, when removed, to permit of a 
gun being thrust through the opening. The nuts 
which held the bolts in place were inside the 
cabin, and MacDuffy produced from his pockets 
a serviceable-looking monkey wrench, which was 
the engineer's constant companion. 

“ T’ll undertake to have those nuts unscrewed 
in half an hour,’ said he in a low, excited tone, 
"and then what’s to prevent us dropping through 


93 


THE BOY INVENTOES’ 


the stern to-night, hooking the dugouts and float- 
ing down to the coast?’ 

‘‘What indeed? we thought. The plan looked 
feasible enough. But, naturally, we did not, for 
a minute, countenance the idea of making good 
our own escape and leaving the rest to their fate. 
But Professor Chadwick, when we communicated 
our plan, decided at once that we must make the 
attempt that night, and, if we succeeded in reach- 
ing the coast and the Sea King, must summon 
help. 

“After a lot of persuasion we agreed to do this. 
Then we waited, with as much patience as we 
could muster, for the night to fall. Food and 
drink was brought us at dusk, and we ate all we 
could, knowing that we might have strenuous 
work before us. After dark MacDuffy fell to 
work on the bolts. It took scarcely an hour to 
loosen them. This much accomplished, we waited 
till all grew quiet about the Tarantula, which was 
not before midnight. 

“Whispering a good-by to Professor Chad- 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 


93 


wick and Mr. Jesson, we dropped through the 
opening, after MacDuffy had removed the plate 
which left a hole some four feet square. The 
rope by which the dugouts trailed astern was 
just above our heads. Captain Andrews seized it 
and pulled the first of the frail craft toward the 
Tarantula till it was under the opening we had 
made. Then they told me to drop down as si- 
lently as possible. When I was on board Mac- 
Duffy, followed, stuffing his wrench into his hip 
pocket, and last came Captain Andrews. Before 
we cut loose we, according to Professor Chad- 
wick’s instructions, cut the string by which the 
jewel casket was suspended, and stowed it safely 
on board the dugout. 

‘^This done, I cut the painter with a slash of 
my knife, and the dugout drifted silently off 
down the current into the darkness. Our escape 
had been made in safety. We reached the coast, 
and after paddling northward for half a day, 
sighted the Sea King. All was as we had left 
it, and mighty glad every one was to see us, 


94 THE BOY INVENTORS’ 

I can tell you. But the plight of Professor Chad- 
wick, Mr. Jesson and the rest, cast a gloom over 
us all.^’ 

''Tell me,’’ begged Tom, interrupting again, 
"are they still on the Tarantula?” 

"I don’t know,” replied Ned. 

"Well, hurry your story,” exclaimed Jack. 
"We must go to their rescue wherever they are!” 

"Captain Andrews lost no time in ordering 
me to the wireless,” continued Ned hastily, "and 
as we steamed northward I kept pumping away 
at my key. At length, as you know, I got into 
communication with you. But as I did so there 
was a sharp and sudden shock through the Sea 
King, and she came to an abrupt stop. That 
shaft had parted again. There was nothing for 
us to do but to anchor. At almost the same time 
one of the crew shouted that a craft resembling 
the Tarantula was on the southern horizon and 
overhauling us fast. It didn’t need a second look 
to show us that the strange vessel was indeed 
the Tarantula, As she drew close to us there 


WIEELESS TEIUMPH 95 

was a flash and a puff of smoke from her bow,, 
and 'crash!’ our aerials parted, — shot through 
at the foremast. 

"There we were, crippled and helpless, and I 
didn’t even know for sure if my message to you 
was clear or no.” 

"One question,” put in Jack, "has the Taran- 
tula a wireless ?” 

"Yes; I meant to tell you about that. She is 
fitted with a collapsible military mast, and, from 
what we overheard, Herrera has a complete 
plant at his plantation ashore likewise.” 

"That disposes of X. Y. Z.,” said Jack, glanc- 
ing at Tom. "It’s plain enough now that some 
one ashore intercepted our message, just as we 
caught theirs, and flashed it to Herrera.” 

"Guess you’re right,” agreed Tom gloomily, 
"and we are responsible for giving away the ex- 
act location of the Sea KingT 

"How’s that?” asked Ned, in a wondering 
tone. 

"I’ll explain all about it later,” said Jack, "the 


96 


THE BOY INVENTOKS’ 


thing is now to formulate some sort of plan to 
get out of this tangle. Is Captain Andrews or 
Chief MacDuffy about?'' 

‘‘MacDuffy is below, trying to fix the break in 
the shaft," was the response. ''Captain Andrews 
is asleep in his cabin. He was worn out, and I 
didn't wake him when our rocket signals were 
answered by you." 

"Well, I think we'd better rouse him now," 
Jack was beginning, when the cabin door was 
flung open and a sailor, whose face was chalky 
beneath his tan, burst in. The group at the 
table looked up, startled and alert. Ned's narra- 
tion had taken almost an hour, and although they 
had not forgotten the dangerous proximity of 
the Tarantula, they had had no way of guessing 
in what way their enemy would next become 
active. 

"That yaller-faced Greaser's craft is bearing 
down on us, Mister Bangs !" exclaimed the man. 
"She looks as if 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 97 

There was a sharp crash overhead, and the 
booming detonation of a gun resounded an in- 
stant later. The boys sprang to their feet and 
scrambled up the companion way, headed for the 
deck. 


98 


THE BOY INVEYTOES’ 


CHAPTER IX. 

THE CHADWICK GAS GUNS. 

As they went Jack flashed a swift word to 
Ned. 

"'You say that the chests my father took such 
care of are still in the cabin 

"Yes; in the Professor’s stateroom.” 

"Good. Pve a notion they contain something 
that may prove valuable to us right now. Open 
them up and see if one of them contains some 
queer-looking guns. If it does, bring the 
weapons on deck right away, and — summon 
Captain Andrews.” 

Ned retraced his steps and Jack ran swiftly 
up after Tom. On deck they found the sailors 
running about distractedly. The shot they had 
heard had carried away part of the foremast of 
the Sea King. The wreckage lay in a tangle, 
about which the seamen hovered confusedly. 


WIKELESS TRIUMPH 99 

While the boys still stood regarding the scene, 
hardly knowing for the moment what to do, a 
stoutly-built man, with an overcoat hastily 
thrown on over a suit of pajamas, joined them. 
It was Captain Andrews. The light from the 
incandescents fell on his bronzed, blonde-bearded 
face, and Jack felt, as he clasped the newcomer's 
hand, that here was a man who could be relied 
on to the last ditch. 

"‘Ned Bangs told me I would find you here," 
he said. ‘T hastened on deck right away. I 
should have been out and about long ago; but 
» 

‘"That's all right, captain," spoke Jack swiftly, 
""you had earned your rest and no mistake. The 
thing is, what are we going to do now?" 

""The rascal Herrera has attacked us, Ned told 
me. 

“Yes. His craft is in the offing now. He has 
shot away part of the foremast. The riding- 
light on it must have acted as a target for him.” 


100 THE BOY INVENTOES’ 

As the lad spoke a voice came out of the dark- 
ness: 

‘We want that silver casket. Are you going 
to give it up peaceably, or do we have to blow 
your vessel out of the water?’’ 

“You infernal scoundrels !” shouted Andrews, 
before Jack could check him. 

The captain bounded forward to a machine 
gun. With quick, nervous fingers he was rip- 
ping off its cover when Jack laid a hand on his 
arm. 

“Hold on a minute, captain,” he said, “I’ve an- 
other plan. We shall know in a few seconds now 
if it will succeed.” 

The captain looked at him wonderingly. 

“They outnumber and outarm us,” he began. 
But Jack broke in : 

“I’ve an idea that one of those chests in my 
father’s cabin contains some novel weapons,” he 
said, “a new kind of gun, the invention of Tom 
and myself. They contain a magazine of shells 
loaded with a gas which will paralyze any form 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 101 

of animal life with which they come in contact.” 

The captain gasped. 

“Well,” he said, “I’d heard that you kids were 
inventive wonders, but this ” 

“Oh, we didn’t invent the gas,” interposed 
Tom, who had been an interested listener to 
Jack’s last words, “Professor Chadwick did that. 
But we applied it to use in the guns.” 

“And they work?” 

“Well, we’ve tried them on rabbits and small 
game, and brought down whatever we aimed at. 
You see, the shells are loaded with this gas in a 
semi-solid form. When the gun is fired a fuse 
is lighted, which releases the gases, and they fill 
the atmosphere, surrounding anything they 
strike with a vapor that causes temporary help- 
lessness.” 

As Jack spoke there came another hail out of 
the darkness. 

“We are waiting. Resistance is useless. We 
know you have that casket with you. What is 
your answer?” 


102 


THE BOY INVENTOES’ 


''Will you give us a few moments to consider?’' 
shouted back Jack. 

A pause followed. 

"I wonder how on earth they know that Ned 
and the rest secured the casket?” wondered Tom. 

This was a poser. It was not till long after- 
ward that they found out that, following the dis- 
covery of their escape from the Tarantula, a 
sailor had noticed the severed string hanging 
from the porthole of the Professor’s cabin 
prison. Herrera’s keen mind at once guessed the 
purpose it had served, and also surmised that 
the casket must be very valuable. Professor 
Chadwick, on being questioned, admitted, — 
thinking of course that the Sea King was by 
that time out of danger of pursuit, — the manner 
in which he had tricked the Mexican and the 
contents of the box. 

Suddenly, out of the darkness, ranged the 
ghostly outlines of Bl Tarantula. Hardly twen- 
ty-five yards separated her from the Sea King. 
She was moving slowly, far below her usual 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 103 

swift motion. Her dash from the mainland had 
resulted in overheated engines, which accounted 
for the space of time those on board the Sea 
King had been free from her presence. 

^ We’ll give you five minutes and no more,” 
came a voice from her midships. 

‘^Good,” murmured Jack, as he heard the terms 
of the armistice, ^^that ought to be plenty of time 
and Oh, glory be !” 

Ned had come on deck while the young leader 
was speaking. In his arms he carried a collec- 
tion of as strange-looking weapons as were ever 
seen outside of a museum. Yet they represented 
a type of gun destined to become famous. 

‘"Hurray!” muttered Tom under his breath, 
“they’re the gas-guns, sure enough.” 

While Captain Andrews’ eyes fairly bulged. 
Jack took one of the guns. They were of a dull 
colored metal, allowing no light to glint from 
any bright surfaces. A barrel about three and 
a half feet in length, terminated in a cylinder of 
greater diameter than the barrel itself. This 


104 THE BOY INVEHTOES’ 

was a muffler, which effectually silenced the 
sound of the spring that was used to send the 
gas globes on their way and snap the fuses. The 
stocks of these odd firearms, if such they could 
be called, were large, and contained sixteen “gas 
globes’" — spheres of a tough and glutinous kind 
of gelatine, filled with the destructive gas — a 
compound of ammonium nitrate, — in a semi- 
liquid form. 

“How do you fire them?” asked Captain An- 
drews. 

“Handle them just as you would an ordinary 
gun,” rejoined Jack. “The globes will burst 
when they strike the Tarantula and spread the 
gas they contain broadcast. Luckily, the craft 
is to leeward of us, or we might be in danger of 
getting a dose of our own medicine when the 
gas globes detonate.” 

“Will the gas kill them?” asked Captain An- 
drews, in such a vindictive tone that Jack 
couldn’t help smiling. 


WIEELESS TEIUMPH 105 

‘‘Hardly/’ he said; “but it will take the fight 
out of them for a while, I imagine.” 

Acting under the lad’s instructions, Captain 
Andrews summoned some of the interested sail- 
ors to him. There were twelve of the guns “and 
a chest full of ammunition below,” whispered 
Ned. 

Eight of the men were given a gas-gun each. 
Their faces expanded in grins as they learned 
the nature of the. novel weapons. 

“First time I ever heard of knocking a feller 
out with a gas pill/’ said one of them in an un- 
dertone. 

The serving out of the gas-guns had hardly 
been completed when the voice from the Taran- 
tula hailed them again : 

“Five minutes is up,” it said; “we’re going to 
board you.” 

At the same instant the Tarantula began to 
range in alongside. Evidently those on board 
her did not fear resistance, for as she drew closer 
her decks blazed with light, and those on board 


106 THE BOY INVENTOES’ 

the Sea King could see that her machine guns 

were trained full on the yacht. 

Under Jack's orders the armed portion of the 
Sea King's company had dropped behind the 
bulwarks, aiming their guns through scupper 
holes. Thus, of course, all that was revealed to 
the enemy was a group of flurried-looking sail- 
ors standing about the wreckage of the mast for- 
ward. Hardly ten yards separated the two ves- 
sels when Jack gave the whispered command : 

‘‘Fire!" 

What followed, so Tom described it afterward 
to the author, “was like watching a moving pic- 
ture." 

There was no sound as the triggers on the 
gas-guns were pulled, but as the collapsible 
globes struck the Tarantula's decks and super- 
structure and burst with a soft, pattering sound, 
her crew began to roll about like drunken men. 

As the stupefying vapors impregnated the air 
with their fumes, one after another the men be- 
gan to drop like flies. The resistance of the 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 107 

stoutest didn’t endure for more than a space of 
five minutes. Herrera himself, the last to suc- 
cumb, fell beside the wheel house as he was shout- 
ing at the helmsman to withdraw from the in- 
fected air. 

The young inventors’ wonderful gas-guns had 
received their first real test, and had surely not 
been found wanting in efficiency. The Taran- 
tula, a few moments since the scene of feverish 
activity, now lay a drifting hulk. Her engines 
were still slowly revolving, but there was no 
hand to govern them. Several of the gas globes 
had been aimed at the engine-room hatches, 
which were open. Deflecting thence they had 
burst into the machinery space, stupefying the 
force at work there. 

The victory was complete and sweeping. 


108 


THE BOY INVENTOKS' 


CHAPTER X. 

DRAWING A RASCAI."S FANGS. 

‘Well, what next?’’ 

It was Tom who spoke, and his voice broke 
the spell that had held all hands as they gazed 
at the silent craft drifting away from them into 
the darkness. 

‘We must overhaul the Tarantula and set my 
father and yours free, Tom, if they are still 
there,” came from Jack. 

“A good suggestion ; but how are we to do it ?” 
inquired Captain Andrews, who was not aware 
of the readiness of the Vagrant to be placed in 
active service at once. 

“We’ll board the Vagrant, At the pace that 
spider-craft is going it won’t take long to lay 
alongside her,” decided Jack. 

Before many minutes had passed Jack, Tom 
Jesson and Ned were on board the Vagrant, 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 109 

Jupe, much against his wishes, was left behind 
on the Sea King. 

'‘Ah’d hev liked jes ter hev one good, big 
kick at dat Mexican tamale,’’ he urged ; but it 
was decided to go without him. 

The Vagrant's engines, despite the recent 
strain placed on them, were found to be working 
perfectly. Amidst a shower of good wishes from 
those left on board the Sea King, she moved off 
into the darkness in pursuit of their recently vin- 
dictive enemy. As Jack had foretold, it did not 
take long to overhaul the craft with which Her- 
rera had hoped to intimidate those on board Pro- 
fessor Chadwick’s yacht. 

It gave the boys a somewhat uncanny sensa- 
tion as they stole silently alongside the slowly 
moving Tarantula, and then made fast by 
throwing a grappling iron on her decks. This 
feeling was not changed when, clambering on 
board, they gazed on the decks strewn with 
senseless forms, lying as they had fallen. They 
appeared to be wrapped in deep, dreamless slum- 


110 


THE BOY lYVEYTOKS’ 


ber. The gas had operated on them much a- 
they had been patients in a hospital under the 
influence of an anaesthetic. 

Stopping only to make sure that all on board 
were dead to outward impressions for an hour at 
least, — after which time Jack calculated they 
would begin to stir,— the trio of lads made no 
more delay about seeking out the stern cabins, 
in which, they believed. Professor Chadwick and 
the rest were confined. 

Jack was the first to make the alarming dis- 
covery that the staterooms which had been the 
scene of their captivity were empty. 

It was a bitter pill to swallow indeed. The 
boys, perhaps despite their better judgment, had 
confidently calculated on finding and delivering 
their friends. Now, however, it appeared that 
they were as far from accomplishing this as ever. 

‘^There’s only one conclusion to draw,’’ said 
Jack at length. ‘‘Herrera, for reasons best 
known to himself, has left them some place 
ashore.” 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 


111 


‘'Unless he ’’ began Ned, but Jack cut him 

short. 

“I guess even Herrera wouldn’t dare to go 
much further than that,” he declared stoutly, 
“the question now is, — where has he left them ?” 

“Judging from the speed with which he over- 
took the Sea King he could not have proceeded 
far from the spot where we first encountered the 
Tarantula,^' decided Ned, “according to my ideas 
then, our friends have most probably been set 
ashore on his plantation.” 

“Cracky! I believe you are right, Ned,” cried 
Tom in a jubilant tone. 

His voice became more sober the next minute, 
though. 

“In that case they will be under a strong 
guard,” he added despondently. 

“I don’t see that that follows,” struck in Jack. 
“I’ve just been thinking that Herrera, judging 
from his large crew, must have most of his fight- 
ing men right here on board the Tarantula. In 
such a case, the ones left at the plantation can’t 


112 THE BOY INVENTOES’ 

be much more formidable than those slaves Ned 

told us about a while back/" 

"'That does sound reasonable/" assented Tom, 
"so then it will be our best plan to make for the 
coast at once. Do you think you could find the 
mouth of that river again, Ned?"" 

"Captain Andrews has its exact bearings,"" re- 
joined the "wireless"" lad. "I guess we could 
pick it up with no more trouble than we"d have 
in making any other port."" 

"That soimds good,"" gleefully exclaimed Jack. 
"I reckon it will be our best plan of action, too."" 

"More especially as Herrera and company are 
going to have bad headaches when they do wake 
up, and will take some time to get their wits to- 
gether,"’ said Tom with a grin. "By that time, 
if all goes well, we ought to have secured the 
freedom of our party.” 

"Jove! But there’s one thing we were almost 
forgetting,” cried Ned suddenly. 

"What’s that?” 

The question proceeded from Tom. 


WIKELESS TEITJMPH 


113 


‘‘This craft has wireless. When the bunch 
comes back to life they can flash a message to 
the plantation telling them to be on the lookout 
for us. That is, if they guess where weVe gone, 
and there isn’t much doubt that they will.” 

“Right you are, Ned Bangs,” agreed Jack; 
“but I guess with what we know about wireless 
it won’t take over and above long to fix the Tar- 
antula's apparatus so that it won’t be any more 
good than a bunch of junk.” 

“Seems a shame,” commented Tom. 

Jack and Ned stared at him. 

“Yes, and it would have been a shame if Her- 
rera had sent the Sea King to the bottom, as he 
fully intended to do,” indignantly exclaimed the 
latter. “I don’t see where he comes in to be en- 
titled to any more consideration than a rattle- 
snake.” 

“No more do I,” assented Jack. “Come on, 
let’s find the wireless room of this craft and get 
busy with it.” 

It took but a few minutes to locate the wireless 


114 THE BOY INVENTOKS’ 

room of the speedy gunboat. It took still less 
time for Jack to sever the wires and render the 
condensers and helix useless. 

'‘There/’ he said, with a deep breath, as he 
concluded his task, "I guess it will be quite a 
while before any messages can be flashed from 
this craft.” 

"Unless they have extra apparatus on board,” 
came from Tom. 

"Gee whiz ! That didn’t occur to me. Wonder 
if they have?” 

"Well, we can’t waste time looking for it,” 
struck in Ned. "You said the effects of that gas 
would wear off in about an hour, didn’t you, 
Jack?” 

"Yes.” 

"Then I suggest we get a move on.” 

"Right you are,” agreed Jack, and then, look- 
ing around for Tom, he missed him. The lad 
had slipped silently out of the place. 

"What can have become of him?” gasped 


WIKELESS TKIUMPH 115 

Jack, somewhat astounded at Tom's quick dis- 
appearance act. 

It was not till they emerged on deck a few 
seconds later that they heard sounds from the 
engine-room, and presently Tom showed up. He 
had a wrench in his hand, and bore a well-satis- 
fied grin on his round face. 

‘‘What on earth have you been up to?" asked 
Jack. 

“IVe been administering much the same treat- 
ment to the engines of this craft that you have 
to the wireless," chuckled Tom. “Gee whillikers ! 
what an astonished outfit of tamale-eaters there's 
going to be on this ship when they come to life !" 


THE BOY INVENTOES^ 


iia 


CHAPTER XI. 

THE ROAD RACER/^ 

Leaving the Tarantula to drift at her sweet 
will, all haste was made by the youthful adven- 
turers in regaining the side of the Sea King. 
When they reascended to the deck of that craft, 
after making fast the Vagrant, they found a 
newcomer among the crew to greet them, — 
namely, MacDuffy, the engineer, who announced 
that he had made temporary repairs. 

"'But they willna be lastin’ lang, I’m thinkin’,” 
he said ruefully, "I dinna ken if they will carry 
us a hundred miles.” 

"And it’s a good three hundred or more back 
to that river mouth,” cried Ned in dismay. 

"Aye, lad, it wull be all of that,” agreed the 
Scotchman. 

A sudden idea struck Jack. 


WIEELESS TEIUMPH 117 

‘‘Is there any one on board who understands 
wireless besides Ned Bangs?’’ he asked abruptly. 

Sam Serviss, a youngish-looking seaman, — he 
was third officer of the Sea King , — stepped for- 
ward. 

‘1 can read Morse and Continental,” he said 
simply, ‘‘and I’ve taken lessons from Ned Bangs 
here. I guess at a pinch I could operate a wire- 
less all right.” 

“Good. That puts my plan on a feasible basis,” 
exclaimed Jack. 

“What may the plan be?” asked Captain An- 
drews interestedly. 

“Just this: The Sea King will proceed to Lone 
Island, navigated by Mr. Serviss here. On the 
island, as you know, is a wireless plant. The 
generator is not a very powerful one, but you 
can harness the island apparatus to the genera- 
tors of the Sea King, and obtain as much current 
as you want, — two kilowatts if necessary. I have 
a plan to increase the power of the Vagranfs 
outfit, so that we can keep in touch with you.” 


118 THE BOY INVEHTOES^ 

Captain Andrews and MacDuffy nodded. Jack 
went on, while they all listened with deep atten- 
tion. 

'‘The Sea King carries a gasolene launch. On 
arrival at Lone Island you can try to get into 
communication with us. In the meantime the 
launch can be despatched to Galveston for the 
supplies and tools needful to mend that shaft 
properly. This being done, Mr. Serviss will 
watch the wireless for further instructions, or, 
in case of need, proceed to our rescue.'' 

"Then you mean to go back to Yucatan the 
noo?" inquired MacDuffy. 

"Of course," rejoined Jack, quick as a flash, 
and in a tone that showed he had indeed arrived 
at a definite conclusion in the matter. "It's my 
duty and Tom's to rescue our relatives, and that 
as soon as possible." 

"And you'll no be countin' on taking me?" 
asked MacDufify, rather piteously. 

Jack shook his head. 

"The capacity of the Vagrant is limited, Mr. 


WIEELESS TEIUMPH 


119 


MacDuffy/’ he said, '^and we may have to adopt 
another means of transportation before we get 
through — I mean the aero-auto/’ 

“Good. The very thing,’' was Ned’s enthusi- 
astic comment. 

“I guess Captain Andrews, Tom, Ned, Jupe 
and myself will be a big enough force to take 
along,” went on Jack; “of course, we’ll carry the 
gas-guns and a supply of ordinary firearms and 
ammunition.” 

The boy’s plans were so clear and well-defined 
that there was no opposition. By this time the 
sky was streaked with gray and rose color in 
the east, and a wan light overspread the sea. It 
showed them the faint and distant outlines of the 
Tarantula, drifting seaward in the clutch of 
some strong ocean current. Evidently, then, 
they had nothing to fear from that source. 

The work of hoisting the aero-auto from its 
well on the Sea King, and transferring the odd 
land-and-air traveler to the Vagrant was set 
about at once. Blocks and tackles were reeved 


120 


THE BOY INVENTOKS’ 


on the derrick boom of the after mast of the Sea 
King, and with wondrously little effort, the ve- 
hicle the Boy Inventors had evolved was trans- 
ferred to the flush after deck of the Vagrant, 
where it was lashed in place, the ropes that bound 
it being affixed to ringbolts on the deck. 

The Flying Road Racer must be described in 
some detail here, as it is destined to figure large- 
ly in after events of the Boy Inventors’ lives. 
The auto part of the wonderful machine, then, 
was a cigar-shaped affair of aluminum, with 
four wheels of the ‘"disc” type. It was fitted 
much like an ordinary auto, with padded seats in 
front and in the tonneau, equipped with shock 
absorbers, and was twelve feet in length. 

In the front of the car the engine, a hundred 
horse-power, eight-cylinder, four-cycle machine, 
was installed. The controls led to the steering 
wheel, just as is the case in ordinary cars. The 
crank shaft, however, projected through the 
front of the car, and was provided with a slotted 
terminal, by means of which an eight-foot aerial 


WIEELESS TEIUMPH 


121 


propeller, carried in sections in the car itself, 
might be affixed at will. 

Above the main body of the car was a light, 
but strong, framework supporting a balloon bag, 
— also cigar-shaped, and of the finest oiled silk, 
— of a capacity of about fifty thousand cubic feet 
of gas, and with a theoretical lifting power of 
forty-five hundred pounds. The method of in- 
flating this bag at will, and thus converting the 
auto into a practicable dirigible, was the most 
startling innovation about the invention. 

The body of the car, as has been said, was 
cylindrical, with sharp ends, like a mammoth 
perfecto cigar. This cylinder was divided in 
half, longitudinally, by a floor of aluminum al- 
loy. The entire lower chamber thus formed was 
a big generating tank for a gas having a lifting 
capacity exceeding hydrogen vapor by a ratio 
of three to one. This gas was generated from 
brownish crystals formed of a compound of hy- 
drogen-saturated alum and another chemical 


122 THE BOY INVENTOES’ 

akin to radium, which the boys, for the present, 

kept a close secret. 

Two pounds of these crystals, when forty gal- 
lons of water were added to them, formed close 
to sixty thousand cubic feet of the powerful in- 
flation gas. One hundred pounds of the crystals 
were carried in a special compartment of the 
aero-auto, and constituted an ample supply for 
all emergencies. To inflate the bag, then, all 
that had to be done was to unbolt a metal hand- 
hole in the floor of the front section of the car. 
Through this the crystals were dumped into the 
tank beneath and the water added. The open- 
ing of the generator was then closed and clamped 
down tight, hermetically sealing the tank. The 
gas, under compression, was explosive, and was 
utilized to run the motor as well as for infla- 
tion purposes. 

Immediately in front of the operator of the 
car was a gauge showing at all times the pres- 
sure in the tank, and when the gas bag was in 
operation the amount of gas in that also was 


WIKELESS TEIUMPH 


123 


indicated. When sufficient gas was generated, 
the operator turned a valve and the gas from the 
tank instantly began rushing into the bag car- 
ried on the framework above him. The bag was 
so folded that it inflated without necessitating 
much attention. Three broad bands of rubber- 
ized fabric of great strength encircled the gas 
bag proper. 

To these were attached wires of a tensile 
strength exceeding anything hitherto known. 
The other ends of the wires, of course, were 
fastened to the body of the aero-auto, so that 
when the bag was sufficiently buoyant the entire 
car and its occupants were borne aloft. By 
means of an exhaust pump connected with the 
motor, the volume of gas could be reduced at will, 
causing the entire aero-auto to sink at the pleas- 
ure of those directing the machine. 

''Astern’^ of this wonderful invention was a 
rudder of vulcanized silk and vanadium steel 
framework, which, when the invention was in 
use as a land vehicle, was folded. When it was 


124 


THE BOY INVENTOES’ 


desired to take the air the release of a simple 
clutch caused the rudder to assume its proper 
position. At the same time, two long planes 
could be attached to the sides of the car, to be 
used in ascending or descending. The machine 
had two steering and governing devices. One 
wheel was used for the auto control, and another 
‘"tiller’’ was put in use when it was soaring 
through the air. The control of the aerial rud- 
der, planes and engine, all centered in this sec- 
ond wheel, thus putting the craft, at all times, 
under one man — or boy — ^management. In con- 
clusion, it may be mentioned that the craft was 
equipped with speedometer, barometer, baro- 
graph and patent self-starting devices, doing 
away with the old-fashioned ""cranking” of the 
engine. The wheels were fitted with semi-solid 
tires of great size and strength, and the shock- 
absorbers before mentioned obviated any danger 
of a severe jar or jounce on landing. The ma- 
chine had been given several trials at High 
Towers and had been found to work perfectly. 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 


125 


It is not necessary here to give a description of 
the loading of the aero-auto, the leave takings, 
and the final instructions and messages that 
passed between the Vagrant and the Sea King. 
Suffice it to say, that at eight o'clock that morn- 
ing all preparations on both sides were com- 
pleted and that at eight-ten precisely the two 
vessels parted company. The Sea King steamed 
northward slowly, bound for Lone Island, and 
the Vagrant headed for the mouth of the river 
on which the plantations of the rascally Mexican 
were situated. At that time the Tarantula had 
drifted out of the adventurers' ken altogether, 
over the eastern horizon. 

Leaving Captain Andrews and Jupe in charge 
of the Vagrant, the lads, thoroughly exhausted 
now that the strain and care of the long night 
were over, sought their bunks and were soon 
wrapped in slumber. In their dreams they flew 
high above the plateaus and rugged ranges of 
the mysterious land for which they were bound, 
questing the unknown in search of the lost ones. 


126 


THE BOY INVENTORS’ 


CHAPTER XIL 

he:rrera is not caught napping. 

It was noon of the next day when Captain An- 
drews announced that they were still some two 
hundred miles from their destination. But, as 
the boys were all three of them busy over the 
aero-auto, adjusting and examining every part 
of the queer craft, the time flew swiftly. The 
dawn of the third day found them anchored off 
the jungle-clad coast, while not a mile from them 
the waves were breaking on the bar that marked 
the mouth of the shallow river, which, they sub- 
sequently learned, was called the Apak. 

It would be two hours, so Captain Andrews 
calculated, before the tide turned and made the 
passage of the bar possible. In the meantime. 
Jack brought on deck the silver chest, which he 
had, of course, taken possession of, pending the 
time when he could deliver it to his father. The 


WIEELESS TEIUMPH 127 

adventurers spread the three blazing gems it con- 
tained out on the deck, and revelled in the glow 
of light and wonderful inward fires the precious 
stones revealed as the bright sunlight played 
upon them. 

The Vagrant had once been used as a passen- 
ger craft at Galveston, and her former owners 
had installed an iron safe in the cabin for the 
protection of valuables. In this receptacle Jack 
replaced the silver casket after they had exam- 
ined the gems to their hearts’ content. 

By this time Captain Andrews was ready to 
pronounce the crossing of the bar at the river 
mouth feasible. The tide had risen till the tem- 
pestuous breakers had subsided into long swells, 
with a narrow passage of smooth water marking 
the channel. Carefully following this, the skip- 
per of the Sea King piloted the Vagrant through 
into the calm water of the estuary beyond. 

The boys, grouped forward, gazing at the sur- 
roundings with eager eyes, beheld a scene full 
of wild, tropic beauty. The white beach, daz- 


128 


THE BOY lYVENTOKS’ 


zlingly radiant in the strong light, was bordered 
by a dense jungle of dark, melancholy looking 
mangroves. Beyond these came a tangle of bril- 
liantly green jungle, in which the broad fronds 
of the banana plant predominated, while here and 
there a tall palm reared its feathery head. 

Further back still the foliage changed again. 
Lordly groves of mahogany trees, rosewood, and 
giant royal palms raised their crests. In the dis- 
tant background, far withdrawn, the misty blue 
outlines of a range of majestic, rugged-looking 
mountains showed against the steely blue sky. 
They looked as if they were hundreds of miles 
off at least ; but Captain Andrews explained that 
the distance from the shore to the foothills was 
not so considerable, by a great deal, as it looked. 
The condition of the atmosphere, laden with the 
moisture of the lowlands, lent them this appear- 
ance of tremendous remoteness. 

'Tt is in those mountains,’’ said Captain An- 
drews, ''that the remnants of the most ancient of 
the Maya tribes still live. They tell stories up 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 1-^9 

the coast, in the civilized portions of Yucatan, 
about vast ruins and remains of splendid cities 
to be found back there/’ 

The boys gazed up at him as he stood at the 
wheel. A magic world of romance and adven- 
ture seemed suddenly opened before them by his 
words. 

'T recall reading once,” said Tom, the studi- 
ous, '^that the Mayas were civilized long before 
the Aztecs or Toltecs, and that their knowledge 
of the building arts exceeded that of either of 
those races.” 

“Sort of pioneer real-estate men,” chuckled 
Ned Bangs, who in moments when he was not 
oppressed by trouble, as he had been recently, 
possessed a whimsical vein of humor. 

“Ho! ho! ho! ah reckon dat’s right, Marse 
Ned,” roared Jupe, opening his big lips and ex- 
posing his ivories. 

“Has any one ever penetrated into their coun- 
try?” went on Tom, addressing Captain An- 
drews. 


130 THE BOY INVENTOBS’ 

"T guess your father went as far as anybody/’ 
was the response, '^and you know how far he got. 
I have heard that the remnants of the ancient 
tribes have a law, making it death for the man 
who dares to advance into their territory.’' 

^‘But the natives that caught you didn’t seem 
disposed to kill you,” objected Jack. 

‘‘Oh, those fellows; they are of the inferior 
coast tribes,” was the rejoinder. “The ancient 
races regarded them as dirt under their feet. I 
guess they don’t know any more about the in- 
terior of those mountains than we do.” 

The current of the river, discolored and yellow 
from the recent earthquake back in the foothills, 
was so swift as they ascended that Captain An- 
drews found no opportunity for further talk. It 
required all his attention to keep the Vagrant's 
bow pointed upstream. The river narrowed con- 
siderably after passing its mouth. Its turbid cur- 
rent rolled seaward between two low and densely 
wooded banks, not more than sixty feet apart. 

“How far is it to the spot where that craft of 


WIEELESS TEIUMPH 


131 


Herrera’s was moored?” asked Jack, when he 
found an opportunity. 

‘‘Fully fifteen or twenty miles, I should say,” 
was the response, “and if we are making two 
miles an hour against this current we are doing 
well. This river runs mighty near as fast as the 
Lachine Rapids back home.” 

“You’re not far out on that, Cap,” remarked 
the volatile Ned Bangs, who had quite recovered 
his usual flow of spirits. 

The lad had not as much at stake as Jack and 
Tom, and, moreover, he did not quite realize the 
seriousness of the undertaking before them to 
the same extent that they did. 

Hour after hour they fought their way up the 
coffee-colored river. The character of the vege- 
tation on the banks had begun to change by this 
time. Here and there stood a majestic clump of 
mahogany trees ; but logwood, a valuable article 
of commerce in the dyeing industry, formed the 
major part of the growth. Once, as they rounded 
a bend, the flash of a lithe body was seen among 


132 THE BOY lYVEYTOES’ 

the trees, as a beautifully spotted jaguar slunk 
away from the overhanging limb where it had 
been lying. 

‘‘Let’s try the gas-guns on the next one we 
see,” suggested Tom, and the lads hastened be- 
low and returned armed with the odd weapons. 

An opportunity to use them soon presented 
itself. From a thick mass of brake there came 
a mighty squealing and grunting, as the Vagrant 
came slowly around one of the numerous bends 
in the stream. All at once several small, bristly 
animals, like miniature pigs, dashed out with a 
mighty commotion. 

Three gas-guns flashed to three shoulders 
simultaneously. It was an odd and rather un- 
canny sight to behold an instant later, six little 
wild piggies lying with their toes turned up, 
“dead to the world,” as the slangy Ned Bangs 
put it. 

The boys were keen for going ashore and gath- 
ering in the victims of the ammonium nitrate 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 133 

compound. But Captain Andrews vetoed the 
proposal as impossible. 

‘^There’s hardly a foot of water in shore 
there/’ he said, ''it’s a case of 'keep in de middle 
ob de road,’ in this river.” 

Dinner was eaten at one o’clock. Jack "spelling” 
Captain Andrews at the wheel while the skipper 
partook of a hearty meal, after which he in- 
dulged in a nap while Tom, in his turn, relieved 
Jack. 

The latter was still below enjoying Jupe’s 
cookery, when there came a sudden hail from 
above : 

"Say, Jack, hurry up on deck, won’t you? 
There’s something odd about the water just 
ahead of us.” 

Ned it was who uttered the summons, poking 
his head down the companion way. 

Jack finished his meal in a jiffy, and was on 
deck in another two seconds. He found the 
Vagrant's nose still pointed up stream, but Tom, 
using the bridge controls, had slowed down the 


134 : 


THE BOY INVEYTOES^ 


engines till the craft was almost stationary in 
the swift current. 

Right ahead of them lay the cause of Jack’s 
abrupt summons to the deck. 

A chain, composed of huge iron links, was 
stretched from bank to bank of the river, effec- 
tually barring further progress. 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 


135 


CHAPTER XIIL 

A DARING PLAN. 

‘Well/’ said Jack, after a moment spent in 
surveying the obstruction, “we might have ex- 
pected something like that. The question is, 
what are we going to do?” 

“We might land and remove it,” hazarded 
Ned. 

But Jack shook his head. 

“Jupe, go below and call Captain Andrews,” 
he said, in as calm a voice as he could muster. 
“We won’t risk landing and trying to lower the 
chain for two reasons. One is, that Herrera, 
having been cunning enough to put up the bar- 
rier, is not likely to have left it unguarded. There 
may be hidden eyes watching us right now. The 
second reason is, that it has just occurred to me 
that a man who is playing the game he is, may 


136 


THE BOY lYVENTOES^ 


W ' 

have placed other more dangerous obstacles in 
our path/^ 

''For instance?'’ came from Tom. 

"For instance, — mines." 

"By the holy poker! That's so," exclaimed 
Ned, "I guess we'd better turn back and make 
our advance by land." 

"Here's Captain Andrews now," struck in 
Tom, as the skipper of the Sea King came on 
deck, hastily adjusting his white pith helmet. 

There was no need to tell that veteran seaman 
what had happened. He took in the situation at 
a glance. 

"It would have been funny if we hadn't run 
up against something like this," he remarked, al- 
most in Jack's words. 

"The point is, — what now?" said Tom. 

Captain Andrews agreed with Jack that it 
would be a foolish risk to land and try to remove 
the chain. 

"I've quite a notion that there are some rifles 
in that brush, all ready for use in case we try to 


WIEELESS TKIUMPH 137 

proceed/’ he said reflectively, advice is to 
drop back down stream and hold a council of 
war.” 

All agreed that this did seem about the only 
thing to do under the circumstances, and accord- 
ingly Tom handed the wheel over to the sailor 
while he went below to "^stand by” the engines. 

In that muddy stream, with its sand banks and 
shoals, the maneuver they were going to try 
would call for some delicate seamanship and 
swift handling of the motor. 

Captain Andrews, with his lips grimly com- 
pressed, grasped the wheel and sounded a signal. 
Slowly the Vagrant, which had been ''hanging” 
motionless, began to drop back with the current. 

"Too bad we can’t turn around,” complained 
Jack. 

"Wouldn’t dare to chance it,” rejoined the cap- 
tain, "for all we know there may be a sandbank 
on either side of us right now.” 

A deathlike silence hung over the Vagrant as 
she drifted stern first down the river. The wheel 


138 


THE BOY IHYEYTOES^ 


spun swiftly this way and that under the helms- 
man's muscular direction. 

''She goes as well backward as she does for- 
ward/' Ned was beginning, when there came a 
sudden shock that almost threw them off their 
feet. Jupe, in fact, did fall sprawling on the 
bridge. 

At almost precisely the same instant a shower 
of bullets whizzed above them, singing a sinister 
song as they screeched about the motor craft. 
Dense brush lined the banks, and the shooters 
were well concealed in it. Not even a puff of 
smoke betrayed their exact whereabouts. 

And, while this hailstorm of lead whistled 
about the adventurers, they realized all too clear- 
ly that the Vagrant had run hard and fast on one 
of the very sandbanks the captain had dreaded. 
One thing, however, speedily became evident, and 
that was that the bullets had not harmed them, 
because they were not intended to — yet. The 
shower of lead was aimed high above their heads. 
Presently it ceased altogether. 


WIEELESS TEIUMPH 


139 


''That was a warning/’ decided Captain An- 
drews. "Boys, your folks are certainly sur- 
rounded by a barb-wire fence.” 

The lads did not answer. But as they sensed 
the nature of the obstacles that were piling up in 
the way of their enterprise, a look of consterna- 
tion came over their faces. "The Chadwick Re- 
lief Expedition,” as they had christened it, ap- 
peared to have run up against a stone wall. 

"I guess we are not in any danger of another 
fusillade if we stay where we are, or keep on 
dropping back,” said Captain Andrews after an 
interval of thought, "but if we try to keep on 
going weVe had a sample of what to expect.” 

The boys could not but agree with him. At 
length Jack spoke. 

"Hadn’t we better try to get the Vagrant off 
whatever we’ve struck?” he said. "Fve got a 
plan in my head in that case; but I don’t think 
this is the healthiest place to discuss it.” 

"We can put out a light anchor and try to 
warp off,” said Captain Andrews. 


140 THE BOY lYVENTOES’ 

It was agreed to try this plan for rescuing the 
Vagrant from her uncomfortable berth. The 
dinghy was lowered and manned by Jack and 
Tom, who took with them the light anchor which 
was attached to two hundred feet of line. A hun- 
dred feet down stream they dropped the mud- 
hook, and then rowed back to the Vagrant. 

When they were once more on board the winch 
was manned and, to their delight, as the rope 
tightened the Vagrant's stern began to swing. 

''Keep at it, lads,’’ cried Captain Andrews to 
the perspiring laborers, "if that anchor will only 
hold I believe we can get off.” 

The anchor did hold, and after ten minutes 
more of back-breaking work the craft’s bow slid 
out of the mud bank with a sucking sound, and 
she was once more free. The anchor was hauled 
on board, and, without further mishap, the 
Vagrant was set once more on her down-stream 
course. 

The first attempt of the courageous little band 
to rescue their comrades had met with a rather 


WIEELESS TEIUMPH 


141 


ignominious failure. Captain Andrews said as 
much that evening, as they found themselves an- 
chored near the mouth of the river they had fruit- 
lessly ascended with so much pains. 

The skipper voiced this opinion after supper, 
while they sat on deck casting anxious eyes to 
seaward now and again, for the recollection of 
the Tarantula was strong upon them. Above all 
things, they dreaded the reappearance of that 
drab-colored craft. 

"'You said you had a plan, Jack,"" said Tom, 
as the skipper disconsolately drew on his pipe, 
"now"s the time to broach it. What is it?"" 

"Just this,"" was the simple reply, "we"ve got 
the aero-auto. It looks as if the time had come 
to use her."" 

"And leave the Vagrant here to be destroyed 
when Herrera happens along?"" demanded Tom. 

"That doesn"t follow. Did you notice that 
small creek almost overgrown with brush that 
branches off about a mile above here?"" 

"Yes, lad,"" came from Captain Andrews, 


142 


THE BOY IHVENTOES’ 


whose tones gave evidence of his intense interest, 
''you’re planning to hide the Vagrant there till 
we come back again ?” 

"You’ve caught my idea exactly,” said the lad. 
"What do you think of it?” 

"That it’s a dumb-gasted good one, and that I, 
for one, am willing to risk my neck in that flying 
automobubble of yours any time you say the 
word.” 

"Then I say it right now,” shot out Jack, with 
flashing eyes. "We can’t ascend this river by 
water ; we’ll try the air route. 

It was while they were still buzzing with the 
enthusiasm that Jack’s fiery words had created 
that Tom uttered a sharp exclamation. 

"Jupiter !” he exclaimed, pointing seaward. 
"Look yonder. We’re not playing a lone hand 
in this thing now.” 

Some distance off apparently, but rushing 
across the water at a swift pace, was a bright 
white gleam, — the light of a vessel approaching 

the bar at top rpe^'d. 


WIEELESS TEIUMPH 


143 


‘‘The Tarantula, for all Fm worth!'’ exploded 
Captain Andrews. “Confound her, why couldn't 
she have kept her hands off for twelve hours 
longer ?” 


144 


THE BOY lYVEOTOES’ 


CHAPTER XIV. 

A M:esSAG^ I^ROM THE^ AIR. 

Fortunately, there was no ray of light visible 
about the Vagrant. The incandescents had been 
switched off in every part of her, with the excep- 
tion of the engine room. In this compartment 
Tom, by some inspiration, had closed the dead- 
lights, and therefore not a gleam of light leaked 
out to betray the whereabouts of the craft. 

‘'Do you think the Tarantula will cross the bar 
to-night?’’ asked Jack presently. 

‘T don’t imagine so,” was the rejoinder. “They 
wouldn’t be idiots enough to take such a chance 
as that on this tide. No, if you ask me, we’ve 
got the night ahead of us till the first streak of 
daylight.” 

“Good enough,” said Jack, with much inward 
satisfaction; “and now, I’ve been thinking, it 
wouldn’t be a bad idea for me to keep watch by 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 145 

the wireless. It’s likely enough that Herrera will 
try to send a message to his plantation up the 
river, provided he’s managed to get his appara- 
tus repaired.” 

'I’ve been thinking that, too,” said Tom. "I’ll 
go below and start up the generator.” 

"You might as well,” said Jack, "although I 
don’t think that we’ll send out any messages to- 
night. Our job is to catch what we can from the 
air.” 

While Tom hastened to the engine-room to 
start up the dynamo, Jack made his way to the 
cabin, accompanied by Ned Bangs. Captain An- 
drews and Jupe remained on watch on deck. 

Seating himself at the wireless table. Jack 
adjusted the head band, placed the receivers at 
his ears, and then threw the switch for receiv- 
ing. Ned, in the meantime, had run up the wire- 
less mast with its slender antennae, or aerials. 

This done, Ned rejoined his chum, seating 
himself beside him. After an interval he spoke. 

"Anything yet?” 


146 


THE BOY lYYEYTOES’ 


“No; silent as the grave. Suppose you go on 
deck and see what Captain Andrews and Jupe 
have observed.’^ 

Ned was back from his errand in a short space 
of time. His face bore a well-pleased grin, as 
Jack could see in the light of the solitary incan- 
descent which illumined the cabin, the shades 
having, of course, been drawn across the port- 
holes before it was switched on. 

“Well?'' questioned Jack. 

“Well," echoed Ned, “everything is going fa- 
mously. The light stopped moving outside the 
bar, and presently Captain Andrews heard the 
rattle of her anchor chains as she let go her 
mud-hooks. Everything has been quiet since." 

“Too quiet. I wish " 

Jack broke off suddenly, holding up a hand 
to Ned to command silence. Out of space the 
electric waves were beginning to break against 
the aerials above. The Tarantula was talk- 
ing to some one on shore in a rapid stream 
of dots and dashes. Jack's hand flew across the 


WIEELESS TEIUMPH 


147 


recording pad. As before, the paper was soon 
covered with figures — the code which Tom had 
exploded. 

After half an hour, during which his hand 
had frequently sought the tuning apparatus. 
Jack’s labors ceased; but his face bore a radiant 
expression. 

''The message had a lot in it about us, and my 
father and the rest,” he said. "They did not 
codify our names, but spelled them right out. 
That’s how I know. They ” 

"Hadn’t you better listen in case there’s any 
more coming?” asked Ned. 

"No; they’re through for to-night. They ex- 
changed the good-bye signal. Now to find Tom 
and get him to translate this jumble of figures.” 

But Tom, after expending a lot of fruitless 
labor on the papers, declared he could make 
nothing of them. 


"Maybe they’ve changed the code, or maybe 


148 


THE BOY INVEHTOKS’ 


‘'TheyVe been using Spanish this time” ex- 
claimed Jack, struck by a happy inspiration. 

''Cracky! I'll bet that's just what they have 
been doing," cried Ned. "Say, fellows, you just 
copy out those messages while I get Captain An- 
drews below in two shakes of a duck's tail." 

He bounded off up the companion way, while 
Tom busily transcribed. So fast did he work 
that he had a lot of words written out when the 
skipper appeared. 

"So you've been catching something out of the 
air, have you ?" he asked as he entered the cabin. 

"Yes; and I guess it's important, too," de- 
clared Jack, "but you'll have to translate Tom's 
notes. Captain, because it's all in Spanish." 

"That will be simple enough," said Captain 
Andrews, sitting down and drawing toward him 
the scattered sheets which Tom had already ren- 
dered from the figures of the code. 

The veteran seaman began stolidly to con over 
the Spanish words, not all of which, owing to 
Tom's unfamiliarity with the language, were 


WIEELESS TEIUMPH 


149 


written in correct form. But before long his 
composed attitude gave way to excitement. 

^^Jove, lads!’’ he exclaimed, “this wireless is a 
wonderful thing. It’s tipped off that greaser’s 
hand to us in great shape. He ” 

“Wait till you get the whole message and then 
you can read it out to us,” suggested Jack. 

Both the sailor and Tom worked like beavers 
at their task, and ere long Captain Andrews 
leaned back in his chair and announced that he 
was ready to read the messages as he had trans- 
lated them. 

As he had hinted, they caused a sensation. 
Herrera had wirelessed his plantation, and after 
a short interval had received a reply. He, — or, 
rather, his operator, — then proceeded to relate 
all that had occurred, and told, — the boys had to 
smile at this, — how the accursed gringoes had 
tricked them by some sort of hypnotism ! 

However, so the message ran on, the capable 
Senor Herrera had managed to rally his men on. 
their recovery from the spell of witchcraft, and 


150 THE BOY lYYENTOES’ 

had speedily organized a force to repair the dam- 
aged machinery and wireless apparatus. This 
done, all speed had been made at once for the 
coast whither, as they guessed, the gringoes had 
preceded them. 

'Well, Herrera’s man ashore soon informed 
them on board the Tarantula that such was the 
case,” continued Captain Andrews, "and gave 
him a full, true and particular account of how 
they stopped us with that chain and that fusil- 
lade. He told Herrera that he had confined the 
gringoes in one of the buildings used for the 
hemp crushers, and that they were as safe as 
if they were in a safe deposit vault. Friend Her- 
rera then congratulated him on his astuteness, 
and said that he would run the bar first thing in 
the morning, only stopping, by the way, to blow 
the Vagrant out of the water and send us all to 
Kingdom Come.” 

"Reckon he’s got another guess coming on 
that,” grinned Ned Bangs, looking at Jack. 

"I hope so,” said that lad; "but now that we 


WIEELESS TEIUMPH 


151 


are in possession of these facts it’s up to us to 
move quickly. Captain, do you think we can 
find that branch creek in the night?” 

'We’ve got to,” was the grim response, "if we 
don’t want to part with the good old Vagrant, 
and I’d hate to lose any ship I’ve trod the deck 
of.” 

"Then, let’s up anchor and get out of here,” 
said Jack. 

"Intercepting that wireless,” he went on, "has 
taken one great load off my mind. We know that 
those we are in search of are safe, and we know, 
in addition, that they are confined in one of the 
hemp-making buildings.” 

"And that’s a whole lot important to us right 
now,” supplemented Captain Andrews. "Whole 
campaigns have been won with less knowledge 
of the enemy’s country than we have.” 

They went on deck. Outside the bar a light 
showed where the Tarantula lay at anchor. Her- 
rera must have been chuckling to himself at that 
very instant. According to his knowledge of the 


152 


THE BOY INVENTORS’ 


situation, he had his foes completely ''bottled 
up/’ All that remained for him to do was to 
capture them and attain possession ( of the cov- 
eted precious stones at his leisure. 

While the Mexican was pondering such 
thoughts as these and nursing his revenge, the 
company of the Vagrant were busy, — very busy. 

It was too risky a thing to chance making the 
noise that raising the anchor would have caused. 
So the cable was slashed and the engine started 
with the underwater exhaust in operation. Noise- 
lessly the little craft glided up the stream and 
then turned her nose toward the bank. A break 
in the line of trees, showing against the star- 
sprinkled sky, gave the location of the creek 
mouth, and, feeling his way with the utmost cau- 
tion, Captain Andrews drove his temporary com- 
mand into it. It was driving, in a literal sense, 
for the brush and trees overhung the creek so 
densely that the Vagrant had to push her way 
among them. When she had proceeded about a 
hundred yards up the stream she was masked 


WIEELESS TEIUMPH 153 

from the view of the river with complete effect- 


iveness. 

''Glory be T’ sighed Jupe, in a voice of intense 
relief, when Captain Andrews ordered the second 
anchor "let go.’^ 


154 


THE BOY INVENTOES’ 


CHAPTER XV. 

A DASH AIvOET. 

'Tt will be safe enough to light up now, I 
guess,’’ announced Captain Andrews, when the 
anchorage had been accomplished. Jack had told 
him previously that they would need deck lights 
to work by when it was possible to use them with- 
out danger of detection. 

When the incandescents on the after deck were 
switched on the boys at once fell to work on their 
^Tlying Road Racer,” as Jack and Tom had chris- 
tened the craft. There was much to be done, and 
they worked quickly. The tank was supplied with 
crystals and water, and the gauge before long 
showed a pressure which the lads knew was suf- 
ficient to inflate the bag when occasion arose. 

This done. Jack determined to make a test of 
the engines. First, seeing that the neutral clutch 
was in working order, he pressed a button which 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 


155 


set the self-starting apparatus, — run by electricity 
from a storage battery of great power and light- 
ness, — into action. With a buzz and a whirr the 
machinery started, and bit by bit the lad speeded 
the motor up to its maximum number of revolu- 
tions per minute, — namely, two thousand. While 
the crank shafts whirled round he carefully ex- 
amined the lubricating appliances. They worked 
as well as everything else, and fully satisfied 
with his test, the young inventor shut down the 
engine, with the announcement that so far as the 
machinery was concerned everything was in 
readiness for an immediate flight, or ground 
cruise. 

While this had been going on, Jupe had been 
placing a stock of provisions on board, and Cap- 
tain Andrews had assembled his navigating in- 
struments and chronometers, which he had 
brought with him from the Sea King, By mid- 
night Jack declared that it was time for the aero- 
auto’s passengers to get aboard. 

A thrill of excitement ran through the whole 


156 THE BOY JNVENTOKS’ 

party at these words; but Tom seemed suddenly 
to recollect something and stepped to Jack’s side, 
talking in a low voice. 

The young leader nodded his assent to Tom’s 
proposal, whatever it was, and Tom vanished be- 
low, summoning Jupe to help him. When he re- 
turned, he had his arms full of mechanical ap- 
paratus, and the same was true of Jupe, who 
grunted under his burdens. All this impedimenta 
was placed in the tonneau, in lockers under the 
seats. 

It now only remained to bolt on the aerial pro- 
peller, adjust the side-planes and fix the rudder. 
This was speedily done. 

At twelve-thirty o’clock the party cast oif the 
lashings which had bound the Flying Road Racer 
to the Vagrant's deck. Jack climbed into the 
driver’s seat, taking his place at the aerial steer- 
ing wheel. Tom sat beside him. 

Captain Andrews, Ned Bangs and Jupe, whose 
eyes were almost popping out of his head, seated 
themselves in the broad, roomy tonneau. 


WIKELESS TEIUMPH 


157 


The lights had already been switched off on 
board the Vagrant and everything made snug. 
The silver casket, the gas-guns, the ammunition, 
and the other accessories from the Professor's 
cabin which had not yet been opened, were, of 
course, on board the Flying Road Racer. 

Jack bent forward and snapped a button 
switch. A hooded light above the various gauges 
and instruments on the dashboard shone out, 
shedding a soft but bright light on the appliances, 
but not striking up into the young leader's eyes. 

''All ready?" queried the lad, giving a back- 
ward glance. 

"Ready as we ever will be, old top," quoth the 
slangy Mr. Bangs. 

"Let her go," said Tom in a tense voice. 

Jack's pulses throbbed, and his heart beat a 
bit quicker than was comfortable as he turned 
the valve that admitted gas to the bag above 
them. 

With a swishing sound, not unlike escaping 
steam, the folds of the great gas container began 


158 THE BOY INVENTORS’ 

to fill out. It gradually assumed shape, swelling 
till it reached what appeared to be vast propor- 
tions. When Jack shut off the gas the huge, 
cigar-shaped balloon above them looked like an 
immense dark cloud, superimposed over their 
heads. 

The bag took just fifteen minutes to inflate. 
During this time not a word was spoken on 
board the Flying Road Racer. The tension was 
far too great for speech. 

As Jack shut off the gas a tremor ran all 
through the novel craft. She tugged and 
swayed at the single rope, reeved through a ring- 
bolt, that still bound her to the deck. The sus- 
pension wires thrummed musically under the 
pressure. 

‘‘Let go !” yelled Jack suddenly. 

Tom, who had been holding the end of the 
rope, dropped it. Instantly the Flying Road 
Racer gave a bound upward. 

“Bust my toplights!’’ bellowed Captain An- 
drews in excitement at the novel sensation. 


WIEELESS TKIUMPH 


159 


Jupe’s lips might have been seen to move. He 
appeared to be praying. Ned Bangs’ hands were 
clenched tightly. He was very pale. 

‘'Look out for the tree tops!” cried Tom sud- 
denly. 

The wonderful craft, with her precious 
freight, swayed drunkenly toward the crests of 
a group of giant ceiba trees. For one instant 
disaster, at the very outset of their voyage, ap- 
peared inevitable. 

But suddenly there was a whirring sound, like 
the drone of a monstrous night beetle. The en- 
gine was driving the propeller round at top 
speed. 

Jack twisted the steering wheel over, and the 
Flying Road Racer, rising at the rate of a hun- 
dred feet a minute, shot clear of the menacing 
tree tops. 

Up and up into the night she rose, while her 
occupants, forgetting their first alarm in their 
enthusiasm, gave a mighty cheer, careless, for 
the minute, of who might hear it. 


160 THE BOY INVENTOES’ 

The voyage of the Flying Road Racer had 
begun under a fortunate star indeed. 

Directly the tree tops were cleared Jack set 
the planes at a rising angle, and the upward 
course of the Flying Road Racer was more rapid. 
She seemed fairly to shoot up into the ether. 

^‘How do you like it?’' asked Tom, turning his 
head to speak to those in the tonneau. 

'^Ah’d like it better, Marse Tom, ef I didn’t 
feel I done lef’ mah insides behin’ me,” faltered 
Jupe. 

‘'You’ll soon get over that feeling,” declared 
Tom confidently. ‘‘Just hark at that engine! 
She’s running as true as a human heart.” 

“She is that,” agreed Jack, enthusiastically. 
“Tom, old boy, we’ve got the greatest land-and- 
air-craft ever put together.” 

“And to think that you two lads, hardly more 
than schoolboys, invented her,” struck in Cap- 
tain Andrews admiringly. 

“I guess my father had a whole lot to do with 
it,” rejoined Jack modestly; “we could never 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 


161 


have mastered a lot of knotty points without his 
aid/’ 

“Well, that doesn’t detract from what you’ve 
accomplished one bit,” declared Ned with enthu- 
siasm. “This is the mode of traveling of the 
future all right.” 

“We hope to make it so some day,” was Tom’s 
reply. 

The night was almost windless, save for a 
slight puff now and then. But this didn’t bother 
the Flying Road Racer once she was under con- 
trol, and Jack had managed to climb upward bn 
an almost straight course. 

Now he peered over the edge of the aluminum 
body. Beneath him he could see the gleam of the 
river in the starlight. 

“We’ll follow the stream,” he decided. “It is 
bound to bring us to Herrera’s plantation.” 

“Keep at a good height, though,” admonished 
Captain Andrews. “We know that those fellows 
have high-powered rifles.” 

“We are now twenty-five hundred feet above 


162 THE BOY INVENTOES’ 

the earth/’ said Jack, glancing at the barograph. 

^We’ll go higher.” 

He pulled a lever, setting the rising planes at a 
more acute angle. Up the aerial staircase they 
climbed, till the barograph’s indicator pointed to 
the figures five thousand. 

Then Jack turned the prow of the craft in a 
westerly direction, while Tom, through night 
glasses, watched the earth so far below them, fol- 
lowing the course of the river through the 
binoculars. 

At forty miles an hour the Flying Road Racer 
swept through the air on her momentous errand. 


WIKELESS TKIUMPH 


163 


CHAPTER XVI. 

INTO TH^ DN^MY^S CAMP. 

When the Flying Road Racer took the air the 
weight that the craft carried was distributed as 
follows : 

Pounds. 

Aluminum body, wheels, motor, suspen- 
sion wires, etc 900 

Five passengers (approx.) 800 

Provisions, water, etc 250 

(The provisions included canned goods, 
preserved butter, tea and cocoa, 
flour, sugar, salt and a few deli- 
cacies.) 


Radolite crystals, instruments, etc 275 

Other articles, — including Ned’s last-min- 
ute contributions 300 


Total 2,525 


This left lifting power to raise 2,475 lbs., 
which, however, could be increased to a consid- 
erable extent by utilizing the reserve sections of 
the gas bag. 


164 


THE BOY lYVEYTORS’ 


Jack roughly estimated the combined weights 
of those they were to rescue, — his father, his 
uncle, Abner Jennings and the two sailors, — at a 
little over one thousand pounds. Thus, it will 
be seen, that there was no reason why the Flying 
Road Racer should not be able to perform all that 
was required of her, with some lifting power left 
over for emergencies. 

The boy inventors’ craft had been in the air 
about an hour when Tom descried, far below 
them, the gleam of a light. In that wild coun- 
try it was not likely to betoken anything else but 
the site of Herrera’s plantation houses. 

They all agreed on this, and Jack, after a con- 
sultation with his comrades, decided that the 
time had come to descend. The plan they ar- 
rived at, after threshing the situation over in 
all its bearings, was to drop in the most suitable 
place they could find, adjacent to the plantation 
buildings. 

Then the gas bag was to be reinflated, ready 
for emergencies, and two of the party were to 


WIEELESS TEIUMPH 165 

reconnoiter the ground as carefully as possible. 
The remainder of the rescue was to be left to 
circumstances. At one hour and ten minutes 
after midnight, Jack started the exhaust engine 
up. 

Instantly the Flying Road Racer began to 
drop downward through space with her planes 
set at a slight angle, as Jack did not want to 
coast to earth too rapidly. This course soon 
brought the craft above the summits of the for- 
est trees, at a safe distance from the light they 
had perceived from aloft. To make assurance 
of being unnoticed doubly sure. Jack had shut off 
the motor. Silently as a night bird the great 
bulk of the flying auto settled earthward. 

All this time their eyes had been strained to 
sight an open space in which they might land 
without risk of damaging the balloon bag. Tom 
was the first to see, through the night glasses, 
such an area of cleared land amid the forest. 

It was a tract about ten acres in extent, and 
formed, as they surmised later, one of the out- 


166 


THE BOY IISTVENTOES^ 


lying fields of Herrera's plantation. It had not 
yet been put into cultivation, however, and af- 
forded as fine a spot for an air craft to ground 
as could be imagined. Half an hour after the 
descent had begun the Flying Road Racer settled 
as lightly as a bit of breeze-blown down on earth 
once more. 

Thanks to her shock absorbers, hardly a jar 
was felt by those on board as she landed with her 
bag half deflated and limp and wrinkled. No 
time was lost in alighting and throwing out the 
anchors, contrived by Jack, used for securing the 
craft to earth in case of a sudden wind spring- 
ing up. These anchors differed considerably 
from the sea type of "^mud hook." They con- 
sisted, in fact, merely of discs of iron shaped 
like an inverted mushroom. One edge of the 
disc was driven into the ground, and the shape 
of the holding appliances was such that an up- 
ward tug merely served to force them more 
deeply into the earth. 

The adventurers figured that they were about 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 


167 


half a mile to the west of the spot where they 
had seen the light, which they believed marked 
the site of Herrera’s plantation houses. They 
also estimated that there were left to them about 
two hours and a half more of darkness. There 
was urgent necessity then for immediate action. 

Much to the chagrin of Tom and Ned, but to 
the huge delight of Jupe, who had no great fancy 
for the work in hand, Jack and Captain An- 
drews were to be the ones to do the reconnoiter- 
ing. Tom and Ned were ordered to stand by 
the Flying Road Racer and be ready for any 
sudden development that might occur. 

While Captain Andrews and Jack were ab- 
sent, it would be the others’ duty also to refill the 
gas bag, so that the aero-auto might be ready for 
an instant ascent in case of need. 

These preparations completed, the two who 
were to assume the most risky part of the night’s 
work each selected a fully loaded gas-gun. In 
addition. Captain Andrews carried an automatic 


168 


THE BOY INVENTOES’ 


revolver; but it was on the former weapons that 
they would largely depend. 

There remained nothing more but the leave- 
takings, and the fervent wishes for success in 
the daring enterprise, coming from the lads who 
were to be left behind. These final ceremonies 
being disposed of, the grizzled old sailor and his 
young companion set off. Tom and Ned watched 
them till the shadows of the forest swallowed 
them up. 

By good fortune, the two, upon whom so^much 
depended, struck a trail almost immediately after 
their first plunge into the blackness that pre- 
vailed under the tropical trees. The path had 
evidently been used by the laborers who had 
made the clearing beyond. It was a broad, well- 
defined track, and their progress was rapid and 
almost noiseless. 

Neither of them spoke as they made their way 
along the path. The situation was too critical 
for words, and Jack crept along behind Captain 
Andrews, hardly daring to breathe. 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 


169 


He was on the tip-toe of excitement and anx- 
iety, as was natural. At the end of the trail 
they were following lay either success or dire 
failure. There was no middle ground. In the 
event of their failing in their mission, Jack could 
not disguise from himself that the consequences 
would be awful indeed. He had come in con- 
tact with Herrera only once, but that single oc- 
casion had amply sufficed to show him the char- 
acter of the man. 

From time to time, as they advanced, they 
paused and listened intently. But, except for the 
drone of the night insects of the jungle, and the 
occasional scream of a nocturnal bird, there was 
no sound other than the sighing of the breeze in 
the tree tops far above. 

There is no place more mysterious than the 
jungle at night. The dense thickets seem to the 
nervous traveler to hold all manner of hidden 
perils. Some of these are not altogether im- 
aginary, either. The cunning, cruel jaguar, the 


m THE BOY INVENTOES’ 

huge serpents, and a score of other dangers lurk 

in the shadows. 

Fortunately, neither of our friends was bur- 
dened with sensitive nerves, and it was well they 
were not, for their errand was not one for timid 
folk to embark upon. 

They glided along after all these pauses, mak- 
ing as fast time as possible. All at once Captain 
Andrews, who was in the lead, as we know, 
stopped abruptly. 

So abruptly, in fact, that Jack almost collided 
with him. 

^What’s the began Jack. 

But instantly the Captain clapped a hand over 
his mouth. He raised the other in a gesture that 
Jack read instantly: ‘^Silence!’’ 

Just ahead of them, Jack now perceived, the 
path broadened and emerged on a considerable 
clearing. The black outlines of several build- 
ings, were scattered about this open space. 

From one of them hung a lantern, shedding a 
yellow patch of light all about it. This, evi- 


WIEELESS TRIUMPH 171 

dently, was the light they had seen from above. 

As they stood, still as graven images in the 
protecting shadows of the forest, a stalwart fig- 
ure, with a rifle over its shoulder, paced into the 
circle of light and then vanished again. 

''A sentry r’ huskily breathed Captain An- 
drews. ''If we thought we’d catch them napping 
we’ve been badly mistaken.” 


172 


THE BOY INVENTOKS^ 


CHAPTER XVIL 
'"dad! — lT"s jackT’ 

Jack gave a step forward the better to survey 
the scene before them. As he did so his right 
foot struck something, and the next instant there 
was a sudden sharp jangling of a bell. 

In a flash he realized what had happened. A 
wire connected with the bell had been stretched 
across the path, — Herrera’s dead line. His for- 
ward step had given the alarm, and might prove 
their undoing and cause the total failure of their 
plans. Captain Andrews’ arm shot out and 
dragged the boy back into a clump of brush. He 
made Jack lie down flat, doing so himself. 

"The whole pack will be about our ears in a 
minute,” he whispered; but he did not reproach 
Jack, whose face was burning with humiliation. 

Sure enough, almost simultaneously there 
came from the direction of the houses and sheds 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 


173 


an excited clamor of voices. Lights flashed and 
figures could be seen rushing about. Presently 
they gathered in a knot, and some one appeared 
to be giving directions; then they scattered in a 
fan-shaped formation, and moved toward the 
woods in which the two adventurers lay con- 
cealed. 

Jack’s heart beat like a trip hammer. Beside 
him he could hear Captain Andrews breathing 
heavily. Their discovery, within the next few 
minutes, appeared inevitable. Flashing their lan- 
terns hither and thither the searching party, 
which they could now see was composed of ne- 
groes, from the Mosquito coast in all probability, 
advanced toward the jungle. 

There were a dozen or more of them, headed 
by the big fellow whom they had noticed on sen- 
try duty. Almost all of them carried the uni- 
versal weapon of the negro in the tropics, long, 
glittering-bladed machetes. Some of them took 
to the path by which Captain Andrews and Jack 
had reached their present position. Others 


174 THE BOY INVEETOKS’ 

plunged into the jungle, cutting away the thick 

growth with their steel blades. 

Their leader shouted something in Spanish. 

‘'He’s ordering them to search every inch of 
the jungle hereabouts,” interpreted Captain An- 
drews in a whisper. “The precious rascal! I’d 
like to have my hands on him.” 

“It wouldn’t do much good,” was the mourn- 
ful response ; “the odds against us are too heavy 
for us to do much in case of our discovery.” 

“Well, we’ve got the gas-guns, and from what 
I’ve already seen of them I reckon that they may 
prove mighty useful in a few minutes.” 

As he spoke there came a crashing sound in 
the undergrowth a few feet from them. The 
next moment they saw the form of a giant black 
looming up directly in front of them. The fel- 
low was grunting from his exertions in cutting 
his way through the underwood, and paused for 
an instant to catch his breath. 

It was a fatal pause for him. Jack gently 
drew his gas-gun toward him and fired. The 


WIEELESS TKIUMPH 175 

negro threw both his hands into the air and 
dropped with a loud “Oof 

But the shot had been at such close range that 
the powerful gas inpregnated the air that Cap- 
tain Andrews and his young companion were 
breathing. The reek of it stung their nostrils. 

“WeVe got to get out of here,” whispered 
Jack, “or we’ll be as dead to the world as that 
fellow is.” 

Painfully they crept on their stomachs through 
the thick brush, moving as silently as cats. A 
single mistake in their movements, the crack of 
a branch snapped by carelessness might, as they 
both knew, prove fatal. But they managed to 
gain a small clearing under some big trees with- 
out mishap. 

It was at this moment that Jack had a sudden 
inspiration. 

“See here,” he said excitedly, under his breath, 
“those chaps have worked past us now, to judge 
by the sounds. They think that we have fled 
through the woods. What’s the matter with our 


176 


THE BOY INVENTOKS’ 


doubling back on our tracks and marching right 
into the settlement?’' 

Captain Andrews, ungiven as he was to emo- 
tion, fairly gasped. 

‘'By the beard of Neptune, boy!” he exclaimed, 
and then, in the same breath, “but it’s not as mad 
a plan as it sounds. In all likelihood, almost the 
entire force of guards from the plantation build- 
ings are out after us, and we ought to be more 
than a match for half a dozen with the gas- 
guns.” 

“Then we’ll do it?” throbbed Jack, with a catch 
of his breath. 

“Yes. We came here to rescue those poor 
chaps, and, by the Polar Star, we’ll do it if it’s 
possible.” 

Jack impulsively held out his hand. Captain 
Andrews clasped it warmly. The next moment 
they were stealthily creeping through the under- 
growth, but advancing far more quickly than 
they had retreated a moment before. 

When they once more gained the edge of the 



^Each clasped his gas-gun ready for instant use, 



WIKELESS TRIUMPH 177 

jungle, Jack perceived, to his intense satisfac- 
tion, that everything was quiet about the hand- 
ful t>f buildings before them. So far as could 
be seen, there was no one about. Evidently then, 
his surmise had been correct. The majority, if 
not all of the residents, were abroad in search 
of the persons who had sounded the alarm bell. 

‘‘Which building do you think it likely they are 
in?’^ asked Jack, as they paused an instant be- 
fore plunging from the protection of the woods. 

“The one that has that lantern hanging on it, 
I imagine,’^ was the response from the veteran 
seaman, “we’ll try that first, anyway. Are you 
ready?” 

Jack nodded. He did not speak, however. It 
was not a time for mere words. The next mo- 
ment they had passed from the dark shadows of 
the jungle into the open space about the planta- 
tion buildings. Each clasped his gas-gun ready 
for instant use. But nobody appeared to bar 
their progress. 

When they gained the structure from which 


178 THE BOY INVENTOES^ 

the lamp was hanging, they found that it was a 
tall building of wood, and seemingly three stories 
in height. 

It was used, though they did not know this at 
the time, as a drying house for the hemp after it 
had been through the crushing and separating 
processes. The door was secured on the outside 
by a weighty bar of wood. Captain Andrews 
lifted this out of its sockets, and in a jiffy had 
flung the door open. Inside was pitchy dark- 
ness, so black that it could almost be felt. 

Jack had brought along his electric pocket 
lamp. He drew it out and switched on the cur- 
rent. The rays revealed a large, bare chamber, 
empty, except for a pile of dry hemp in one cor- 
ner, and in another a few bales of the product 
stacked ready for shipment. 

^‘Nothing here,’^ said Captain Andrews briefly. 

‘‘No; but see, there’s a flight of steps in that 
corner. Let’s go higher and find out what’s on 
the floor above.” 

“It may be wasting precious time, lad.” 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 179 

the other hand, this was the building that 
was guarded by the sentry. It^s fair to assume, 
then, that it is in this structure that our friends 
are confined.’^ 

Captain Andrews had nothing to reply to this 
logic, and followed Jack up the steps. 

At the summit of the rickety staircase was an- 
other door, secured, as had been the one below, 
by a stout bar of wood. Jack tackled this and 
wrenched it free. As he did so a voice that 
thrilled him in every fiber came from within 
the portal. 

^Who is itr 

‘‘Dad! It’s me — Jack — I’ve come to save 
you!” blurted out Jack, tears of sheer gladness 
springing to his eyes. He flung the door open. 

The next instant Jack was clasped in his fa- 
ther’s arms, while about him and Captain An- 
drews, pressed the other captives, all well and 
unharmed and half wild with delight as they 
greeted the lad whose pluck had conquered Her- 
rera’s “dead-line.” 


180 


THE BOY INVENTOKS’ 


CHAPTER XVIII. 
he:mme:d in by i^lames. 

Naturally, after the first greetings had been 
exchanged, Mr. Jesson^s principal anxiety was 
for his son Tom. Jack soon set his mind at rest 
on this subject. 

‘‘Tom and Ned Bangs are back on the other 
side of the woods, with the aero-auto,"’ he ex- 
plained. 

“Ah, then it has proved a success?” eagerly 
interjected Mr. Chadwick. 

“It is even better than we hoped it would be,” 
rejoined Jack enthusiastically. 

“I wouldn’t be scared to trust myself to that 
aerial wind-jammer for a voyage to China,” 
stoutly declared Captain Andrews. “I reckon if 
Wellman had had a craft like that he’d have 
crossed the Atlantic easy as shooting.” 

“I don’t know but what you’re right,” said 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 


181 


Jack ; ‘'but the thing to discuss now is how to get 
out of here. Dad, do you know much about this 
place ?” 

“Nothing, except that there is a floor above 
this. We were confined there the first day of our 
captivity. But the sheet iron roof used for dry- 
ing hemp made it so insufferably hot that we 
would have died if they hadn’t moved us down 
here,” was the reply. 

“Then, so far as you know, there is no way of 
getting out but by the door we entered?” 

“That’s the only way, I guess. We had better 
make good our escape while those rascally hang- 
ers-on about the settlement are off hunting for 
the fellows who rang their alarm bell.” 

Professor Chadwick, to whom Jack had given 
a hasty outline of the events of the night, moved 
toward the door as he spoke. But he had not 
taken more than two steps toward the head of 
the stairs when he stopped abruptly. 

“Hark!” he exclaimed, standing stock still in 
an attitude of close attention. 


182 THE BOY INVEYTOES’ 

The murmur of voices came toward the party. 
It didn’t take any of them long to surmise what 
had happened. The searching party was coming 
back. In a few moments their egress would be 
cut off and it would be impossible to escape with- 
out a fight, the outcome of which was doubtful. 

In this emergency Captain Andrews acted 
quickly. Gas-gun in hand, he ran down the stair- 
way, shouting to the others to ^‘come on.” 

They pressed close behind him, each with a 
grim determination to reach the doorway before 
the guardians of the plantation noticed that it 
was open. 

But in this they were disappointed. Hardly 
had Captain Andrews reached the doorway be- 
fore several forms blocked it. As the doughty 
sea captain sprang at the foremost of them, at 
least a dozen of the husky henchmen of Herrera 
leaped on him. 

Before either he or Jack could use their gas- 
guns, Captain Andrews was borne to the ground. 


WIEELESS TRIUMPH 


183 


while on top of him were piled half a dozen of the 
returned search party. 

"'Back to the upper room/’ ordered Jack, "Tm 
going to fire my gas-gun.” 

The boy shouted this warning because he knew 
that in that narrow space the fumes of the stupe- 
fying gas were likely to prove as disastrous to the 
white men as to the brawny negroes. Professor 
Chadwick, who well knew the qualities of the 
gas, retreated with the others. As he did so, 
Jack saw a rifle aimed at him by one of the ne- 
groes who crowded the doorway. 

In a moment he had the gas-gun at his shoul- 
der. He pressed the trigger and one of the sleep- 
laden globules shot out. It struck the armed 
negro in the chest, and the fellow threw up his 
arms with a sharp exhalation of his breath. Then 
he fell, as if his legs had been pulled from under 
him. 

The fellows who were piled on top of Captain 
Andrews released him and dashed toward their 
other foe. As they left him the skipper of the 


184 


THE BOY IHVENTOES’ 


Sea King sprang to his feet and discharged his 
weapon. The air became impregnated with sti- 
fling fumes. 

Through the reek the seaman struggled to 
Jack’s side, and before the dazed negroes could 
realize what had occurred the two whites were 
shoulder to shoulder on the stairway. 

Almost simultaneously the contents of the gas 
spheres began to have their effect. Man after 
man of those who remained, for several had 
fled, staggered and fell, while Jack and the cap- 
tain retreated up the stairway. They lost no 
time in reaching the door at the head of the stairs 
and shutting it to keep out the fumes. They 
were none too soon. The gas had already affected 
them, and their heads throbbed and their eyelids 
felt leaden. 

In the corner of the room was a big earthen 
pitcher of water. The Professor threw the con- 
tents of this over his son and Captain Andrews, 
and though still heavy from the effects of the 
gas, the shock revived them wonderfully. 


WIKELESS TEIUMPH 


185 


‘What now?’’ asked the Professor, after Jack 
and Captain Andrews had “come back to life” a 
little. 

“Wait till the fumes of the gas have evap- 
orated through the open door downstairs, and 
then make a dash for freedom,” said Captai:' 
Andrews. 

“How long will it be before the air is good to 
breathe?” inquired Mr. Jesson. 

“About fifteen minutes,” said the Professor; 
“the gas is of a very volatile nature, and the 
fumes will soon clear off. It will be an hour or 
so at least, however, before the negroes recover.” 

“I would suggest, then, that Jack gives us a 
more detailed account of what occurred after he 
left Lone Island,” said Mr. Jesson. 

Falling in with this idea, they seated them- 
selves about the lad, who at once plunged into 
the details of the narrative, which, as may be 
imagined, proved of engrossing interest to all 
who heard him. 

He was interrupted several times by questions 


186 THE BOY INVENTOES’ 

and requests for information concerning the op- 
eration of the aero-auto, and the relation of his 
story took longer than had been anticipated. 
However, even in their critical situation, no one 
wanted to miss a word of it. 

‘'And so the three gems are safe?’' said Pro- 
fessor Chadwick, with a sigh of relief, as the 
lad concluded. 

“Yes. They are at this moment in the Flying 
Road Racer’s locker, in charge of Tom and Ned,” 
was the reply. 

As Jack spoke they all, by mutual consent, rose 
and made for the door. 

“I shall be glad to get to the air,” remarked 
Professor Chadwick. 

“Yes; it is insufferably hot in here,” agreed 
Mr. Jesson. “I had not noticed the heat so much 
while Jack was talking; but now, — ^phew! It’s 
like a furnace.” 

As he spoke. Jack flung the door open. The 
next instant he staggered back, the hot blood in 
his veins frozen with horror. 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 187 

A rush of air, hot and arid as a blast from a 
coke oven, struck him in the face. A great puff 
of smoke followed. 

The room below was a vast furnace of red 
flame. In falling, one of the negro’s lanterns had 
overturned and rolled against the bales of dried 
hemp. All the time they had been talking the 
fire had been waxing more and more furious. 

By this time the lower part of the stairway 
was in flames, and, as Jack held the door open, 
a tongue of fire, sucked upward by the draft, 
shot hungrily toward him. 

He slammed the door instantly. But the heat 
of the seething furnace below rendered the air 
almost unbreathable. 

It looked as if, in the very moment of their tri- 
umph, the adventurers were doomed to death in 
the burning building. Trapped and helpless, for 
an instant they were deprived of words. Was 
this to be their appalling destiny, their fate,— to 
be roasted alive without a chance of escape ? 


188 


THE BOY IHVENTOES’ 


CHAPTER XIX. 

^^stand by eor a rop^!"' 

There are some situations so overwhelming 
that the strongest and coolest may well be tem- 
porarily stunned by them. The springs of ac- 
tion paralyze, while the mind becomes a blank. 

This was the case with our party of adven- 
turers. Added to this, was the horror of know- 
ing that many of the negroes in the room below 
must have perished in the flames. Jack felt a 
sickening feeling of panic clutching at his heart. 

In one corner of the room the two sailors 
crouched, stolidly awaiting death. Professor 
Chadwick and Mr. Jesson alone remained calm. 
Even Captain Andrews and Abner Jennings ap- 
peared dazed and helpless with the sickening 
sense of the disaster that had overtaken them. 

'We must leave this room at once."' 


WIEELESS TEIUMPH 189 

It was Professor Chadwick who spoke, in a 
voice that did not falter in its resolute tones. 

His calmness, in the face of death, restored 
Jack’s pluck and heartened Captain Andrews and 
Abner Jennings. Even the two sailors appeared 
to be less panic-stricken. 

^‘We can only leave it for the room above,” 
objected one of them, however; ^‘the flames will 
reach there afore long. Might as well die now 
as an hour later.” 

^'Shame on you for American seamen!” burst 
out Captain Andrews, ‘'rouse up there! While 
there’s life there’s hope.” 

His words were effective. At any rate, no more 
grumbling was heard as the beleagured party as- 
cended to the upper chamber. Like the one be- 
low it, the place was bare, and Jack flashed his 
electric searchlight about without discovering any 
loophole of escape. As was the case in the lower 
chamber, the walls were unpierced by windows, 
and the timbers were too solid for it to be feasi- 
ble to knock them out, except with heavy sledges. 


190 THE BOY INVENTOBS" 

All at once, however, Jack noticed, as he flashed 
his light about, that in one corner there seemed to 
be a sort of trap-door in the roof. 

He hailed his discovery with a cry of delight. 
If they could only reach the roof it might be pos- 
sible for them to attract the attention of some one 
below who could get a ladder. 

Of course, in that event, they would be likely 
to be made captives, but anything was preferable 
to a tomb in the flames. 

Jack's discovery acted like a tonic on the de- 
spairing feelings of the party. The iron roof 
was two feet beyond the reach of the tallest of 
them, but this difficulty was gotten over by Jack 
clambering to Captain Andrews' shoulders, and 
from that situation he was able to reach the trap- 
door and to open it, for his first fear that it might 
be locked proved to be without foundation. 

Having opened it. Jack clambered through, and 
lying flat on the roof extended his hands to his 
father, who, in turn, used Captain Andrews as a 
ladder. Then came Mr. Jesson, followed by the 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 


191 


two sailors. Abner Jennings demurred to taking 
precedence of the Captain. But, — 

^^The skipper’s the last to leave the ship, my 
lad,” declared Captain Andrews, and Jennings, 
unwillingly enough, clambered on his back and 
was drawn up. 

Then came the Captain’s turn. Abner Jen- 
nings, as the strongest of the party, lay flat on 
his stomach and extended his arms down within 
the room. To his legs clung the others, acting 
as anchors. With a mighty heave Captain An- 
drews, no lightweight, was raised high enough 
for him to clutch the edge of the trap, after which 
he completed the operation of getting through for 
himself. 

As he gained the roof they heard a crash be- 
neath them. 

''The floor of your jail has fallen through, I 
reckon. Professor,” grimly spoke the captain. 

As Jack heard the angry roar and crackle of 
the flames beneath them he could not repress a 
shudder. It was a drop of fifty feet or more to 


192 THE BOY HsTVENTOES’ 

the ground, and they were by no means out of 

danger. 

'Xet’s see if any of those black rascals are 
about,’’ said Captain Andrews, "hf they are we 
may be able to induce them to get a ladder.” 

''Surely they wouldn’t be inhuman enough to 
let us remain here,” exclaimed the Professor. 

"I don’t know,” was the response, "like mas- 
ter, like man, you know; and this might strike 
Herrera as a very neat way of disposing of us.” 

Several forms could be seen flitting about be- 
low them. The flames were pouring through the 
windows of the lower story of the hemp-drying 
building, casting a ruddy glow in which near-by 
objects could be seen as plainly as if by daylight. 

But the negroes appeared to be giving no 
thought to the burning structure. Instead, they 
could be seen dragging piled bales of hemp out of 
danger of flying sparks. Nor did they pay the 
slightest attention to the frantic shouts of the 
party marooned on the top of the blazing build- 
ing. 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 


193 


''Great heavens ! they mean to leave us here to 
roast to death/' groaned the Professor. 

As he spoke there came another crash below 
them, and the building trembled. 

"The floor of the second room has fallen!" 
cried Mr. Jesson, rightly guessing the cause of 
the crash. "In a few seconds this roof will be- 
come red-hot, and " 

He stopped short. There are some things that 
cannot be put into words. 

The trap-door had been closed, but before long 
they could distinctly feel the roof under their feet 
becoming warmer and warmer. 

Suddenly Jack espied a great mass of green 
hemp piled off in one corner, ready to be raked 
out on the iron roof for drying when the sun 
arose. 

"We can put that under our feet," he said, "and 
stick it out a while longer that way." 

So tenacious is the instinct of clinging to life, 
that even though they knew it would only avert 


194 : 


THE BOY INVENTORS’ 


the end by a very short time, — unless a miracle 
came to aid them, — they adopted Jack’s idea. 

But before long the hemp began to smoke and 
steam. The heat was rapidly drying out the mois- 
ture, and then 

Suddenly one of the sailors gave a yell, and 
shouting, — 'T’m going to end it all right now,” 
made a plunge for the edge of the roof. 

His evident intention was to hurl himself down 
to death. 

But before the crazed man could carry out his 
plan Captain Andrews sprang at the fellow and 
brought him down with a crash. 

'Hf Providence means us to die, we’ll meet 
death like men,” he said stoutly ; ''but it’s not like 
Americans to give up the ship while there’s a 
shred of hope.” 

The frenzied sailor fought and struggled on 
the pile of steaming hemp on which the skipper 
held him. But Captain Andrews’ strong arms 
pinned him down. 

Jack felt his senses reeling. The hot breath of 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 195 

the fire had reached them by this time. The 
roof gave off heat like the top of a stove. If it 
had not been for the damp, green hemp they 
could not have held the situation for an eighth of 
the space of time that they did. 

Their throats grew parched and their tongues 
swelled till they were painful, and they could 
shout for aid no longer. For all the attention the 
negroes below paid to their cries, they might as 
well have remained silent. The blacks seemed 
to consider the removal of the hemp to a safe 
place of far more importance than the lives of the 
flame-marooned white men. 

Just when Jack’s hope had flickered out and 
a sort of coma of despair was creeping over him 
the miracle happened. 

It was Professor Chadwick who saw it first. 

Through the red glow that crimsoned the sky 
came a huge floating form. 

The Professor shouted and pointed upward. 
Jack raised a pair of dimmed eyes; but the next 
instant they cleared as if by magic. 


196 THE BOY INVEHTOES’ 

‘HEs the Flying Road Racer!” he shouted, 
yelling like a madman. ''Hurray! We're saved! 
we're saved !" 

And then something in his head seemed to snap 
with a loud report. He swayed, and would have 
fallen heavily on the hot roof if his father had 
not caught him in his arms. 

Then he was startled into alertness again by 
a sharp hail which came from above them. 

"Stand by for a rope. We'll drop as low as 


we dare !" 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 


197 


CHAPTER XX. 

A RI^SCUD BY AIRSHIP. 

Just what happened in the moments that fol- 
lowed neither Jack nor any of his companions 
has ever been able to describe in detail. It was 
a time in which every second counted, while un- 
der their feet the flames roared and crackled hun- 
grily. 

From the Flying Road Racer a rope came 
snaking down, and Professor Chadwick caught 
it. At the corner of the roof in which the ad- 
venturers were huddled was a stout post, used 
sometimes, apparently, for hoisting things from 
the ground, for a pulley hung from it. 

With a flash of inspiration the Professor, with 
Mr. Jesson and Jack aiding, rove the rope 
through this pulley. Then, while Tom and Ned 
maneuvered the Flying Road Racer so that her 
'Tow'' pointed downward, all of the marooned 


198 


THE BOY IHVENTOES’ 


adventurers who were able to do so heaved on 
the rope. In this way the air craft was brought 
to within three feet of the roof. 

Another length of rope was then looped over 
the side by Tom and made fast to two of the 
stanchions of the balloon support. The first to 
test the loop was the companion of the crazed 
sailor. Half dragged, he scrambled into the 
body of the suspended car. Professor Chadwick 
followed, and then came Mr. Jesson, while a de- 
lighted cry at his father’s safety came from Tom. 

Abner Jennings was the next to be taken on 
board, and then came Jack. In the meantime 
Captain Andrews had buckled his belt around the 
limbs of the crazed sailor and had borrowed 
Jack’s for the purpose of confining his prisoner’s 
arms. 

Trussed up in this manner the poor fellow was 
handed up to those on the Flying Road Racer, 
and then the gallant Captain Andrews made a 
spring for the swaying loop. 

He was in the nick of time. As he gained the 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 199 

tonneau and sank to the floor almost exhausted, 
there was a deafening roar, and, as if it had sud- 
denly melted away, the entire building collapsed. 
Jack turned away shuddering as the flame and 
sparks shot up above the ruins. 

The ideas it suggested of the fate that might 
have been theirs if help had not arrived in the 
very nick of time, were almost overwhelming. 

Tom was at the helm, and Ned it was who had 
cast off the rope. Slowly, almost Phoenix-like, 
from amidst the flames rose the Flying Road 
Racer with her heavy burden. 

There was danger in the situation, too. The 
gas in the bag was inflammable, and the heat of 
the fire might expand it so that at any minute it 
might burst the container, and cause an appall- 
ing catastrophe. This danger Tom and Ned had 
willingly faced when they brought the Flying 
Road Racer to the rescue. But now, all their de- 
sires were centered on getting as far away from 
the fire zone as was possible. 

Laden as she was, the great air craft had not 


200 


THE BOY INVEYTOES’ 


the same buoyancy that had been hers when she 
set out at midnight from the Vagrant, She rose 
slowly, and although her propeller was whirring 
at top speed, and her rising planes were set, she 
once or twice sagged dangerously. 

While this behavior on the air craft’s part was 
worrying her navigators seriously, there came a 
su3den fresh cause for disquiet. Bullets from 
the negroes below began to whiz about them. 

The fellows had luckily been too much as- 
tonished to fire while the task of rescue was go- 
ing on. The apparition of the sky-ship had taken 
them so much by surprise that they had tem- 
porarily been unable to take any hostile action. 

Now, however, they had recovered their senses 
and were doing all in their power to render the 
escape of their late prisoners an impossibility. 
Luckily, however, they did not have enough sense 
to fire at the balloon bag, or their endeavors might 
have been crowned with success. Instead, they 
aimed at the occupants of the suspended car, and 
what with bad marksmanship and excitement. 


WIEELESS TEIUMPH 20t 

failed to hit any of them. True, a few bullets 
pinged against the suspension wires and struck 
the sides of the car ; but none punctured the tank, 
as the boys feared might be the case, or caused 
any serious injury. 

A breeze springing up presently wafted the 
overladen airship into an upper air current, and 
before long she was rising merrily. More gas 
had been turned into the bag, increasing its buoy- 
ancy, and by the time the dawn began to show 
grayly the adventurers were far from the scene 
of their fearfully narrow escape. 

Behind them, however, they could see, as the 
light grew stronger, a pillar of dark smoke soar- 
ing heavenward and marking the site of what 
had almost proved their funeral pyre. 

What with the coming of daylight and the feel- 
ing that they had been saved from their greatest 
peril, the adventurers' spirits rose wonderfully 
as they sailed along. Even the crazed sailor 
showed symptoms of returning sanity, and, as 
Professor Chadwick expected, his mental de- 


202 , THE BOY INVENTOKS’ 

rangement soon passed away. Oddly enough, 
though, he could never recall the events of that 
night. They had been wiped from his recollec- 
tion as an old sum is washed off a slate. 

Jupe got out canned goods and made a fairly 
good breakfast, while they were in midair. To 
some of the party it was the most novel meal 
they had ever eaten. But neither their recent 
hardships nor unusual surroundings impaired 
their appetites. All ate ravenously and felt much 
better after the meal, which included hot coffee 
cooked on an electric radiator. This radiator was 
connected with the dynamo that filled the storage 
batteries and provided engine ignition and light. 

During the meal, Tom told them how he and 
Ned and Jupe had waited beside the Flying Road 
Racer after the departure of Tom and Captain 
Andrews on their scouting expedition. For some 
time they stood their ground patiently enough, 
and occupied their time, according to instruc- 
tions, by reinflating the bag. 

This done, there was nothing to do but await 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 203 

the progress of events. Of the search in the 
jungle they knew nothing. But the sound of 
shots from the direction of the plantation had 
first roused their fears that something was 
wrong. 

Then they had perceived the red glare of the 
fire on the night sky. Certain then that some- 
thing serious was wrong, Tom took it upon him- 
self to get up the anchors and fly to the rescue. 
Little did he imagine, however, he confessed, 
what dire straits his friends were in. 

"We owe you a great debt of gratitude, you 
and Ned Bangs, for your prompt and brave ac- 
tion,’’ warmly declared Professor Chadwick. 

That the others heartily seconded the motion 
may be imagined. In fact, as they all realized 
to the full, they owed their lives directly to Tom 
Jesson’s pluck and brains and his able assistant, 
Ned Bangs. Jupe, too, came in for his share of 
praise, for the old colored man had behaved in 
the great emergency through which they had 
passed, with remarkable coolness and ability. 


204 


THE BOY INVENTOES’ 


As Tom concluded his story, Jack glanced at 
the barograph. They had risen to three thousand 
feet, and were moving in a westerly direction. 
So engrossed had they all been in discussing their 
wonderful escape, that they had really hardly 
noticed in what course they were sailing. 

‘T think it’s time that we decided on a destina- 
tion,” said Jack, as he noted these things. 

''Why not try for Lone Island?” said Mr. Jes- 
son. "The Sea King should be there, and ” 

Jack shook his head. 

"The Flying Road Racer couldn’t fly as far as 
that?” asked Captain Andrews, who had been 
glancing about him at all points of the compass 
while this talk was going on. 

"She could fly as far as that under normal con- 
ditions,” was the reply ; "but not with such a load 
on board. We are using up fuel at twice the 
usual rate, and might have to descend to make 
more gas for running purposes.” 

"Can’t we refill the reservoir in mid-air ?” 

Mr. Jesson asked the question. 


WIEELESS TEIUMPH 205 

“Too dangerous, except in case of absolute 
necessity,’’ said Jack ; “it could be done, but there 
is a certain amount of risk.” 

“I think, then, that we had better head about 
and make for the sea-coast where the Vagrant is 
hidden,” said Professor Chadwick. 

“I don’t agree with you there,” said Captain 
Andrews positively. 

“Why not?” 

“Well, in the first place, during the next few 
days Herrera is going to go through all that vi- 
cinity with a fine-tooth comb. He won’t let the 
gems slip through his fingers without some sort 
of a battle for them, you can bet.” 

“What would your advice be, then ?” 

“To make for the mountains yonder with all 
speed. We can lie snugly hidden there for a 
short time, and can form some definite plan. We 
are all too much tired and overwrought now to 
discuss such things intelligently.” 

“I think you are right. I know that, now that 


206 THE BOY INVEISTTOKS’ 

the strain is over, I feel like taking a long sleep,’’ 

said Mr. Jesson. 

'‘Then let us head right on as we are going,” 
suggested Jack. "That range of hills doesn’t 
look so very far off. We ought to get there be- 
fore afternoon. That will give us time to make 
camp and get things snug for the night.” 

And so it was arranged. But Captain An- 
drews still kept casting anxious glances back to- 
ward the coast line. 

"What’s the trouble. Captain?” asked Jack 
presently, noting a trace of uneasiness on the old 
sailor’s countenance. 

"Why, lad, I don’t much like the look of the 
weather yonder. See that gray haze that’s 
spreading over the sky so quick? That means 
wind, and maybe worse, or my name ain’t Sam 
Andrews.” 

"Good gracious !” exclaimed Jack, "we’re in no 
fix to battle with a storm.” 

As he spoke a sharp puff of wind shook the 
Flying Road Racer. 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 


207 


‘'Could we land if anything very bad comes 
on asked Captain Andrews, with a yet stronger 
tincture of anxiety in his tones. 

Jack peered over the edge of the car. 

“Nothing but dense forests are below us,” he 
said; “it would be courting death to try to land 
among them.” 


308 


THE BOY INVENTORS^ 


CHAPTER XXL 

AI,OFT IN STORM. 

In an almost unbelievably short time the wind 
had increased to a gale. It shrieked and moaned 
among the wire supports of the car, and the 
great bag that held it in mid-air swayed and tore 
furiously at its fastenings. 

Jack kept a sharp lookout for a good spot to 
land, while Tom relieved Ned at the wheel. Once 
they saw beneath them a big area of smooth, 
park-like land, almost devoid of trees. It would 
have made an ideal landing place, but as they 
tried to force the Flying Road Racer around to 
head for it the full force of the wind struck 
them. 

While traveling with the gale they had not 
noticed its full fury. Now, however, it battered 
them viciously, tearing at the gas bag as if it 
had been some monster bent on its destruction. 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 


209 


The car swung wildly underneath its support, 
and they had to cling on to avoid being hurled 
out into space. 

Their intention of battling with the wind was 
quickly given up. Tom brought the helm around 
and the Flying Road Racer hurtled off before 
the blast at a speed the indicator showed to be 
sixty-five miles. 

'Ts there no possibility of turning around and 
landing?’’ asked Mr. Jesson somewhat anxiously. 

'Tt is out of the question,” declared Jack; 
"'we’d rip this craft to pieces if we even attempted 
to buffet the storm.” 

"It’s a bad one, all right,” said Abner Jen- 
nings. 

"And may be worse afore it’s better,” said 
Captain Andrews, casting an anxious eye aloft 
at the scudding clouds among which they were 
sailing. 

"The wind is blowing about sixty miles an 
hour,” said Jack, looking at the anemometer. 
"That means practically a hurricane speed.” 


210 


THE BOY INVENTOES’ 


''Are we in danger?’" asked Mr. Jesson. 

"Not as long as we can keep in the air,” said 
Jack; "but if anything should go wrong it would 
be awkward, to say the least of it.” 

"Then something may happen at any minute ?” 

"I didn’t say so. Uncle; but, as Captain An- 
drews said, the wind may grow stronger.” 

"It’s hard to tell what these tropical hurricanes 
will do, once they get started,” said the burly cap- 
tain. "I’ve seen ’em blow for a week and flatten 
out whole groves of cocoanuts.” 

It grew blacker and blacker. The Flying Road 
Racer was now scudding through ragged white 
clouds that drove as fast as she did under a pano- 
ply of inky black. The scream of the rigging as 
the wind rushed against the taut, straining 
wires, sounded almost like the cries of some live 
thing in pain. 

Every now and again there would come a sud- 
den burst of vicious fury, and once or twice it 
actually appeared as if the great air craft would 
be ripped in pieces. But so far every wire and 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 


211 


brace and turnbuckle in her construction had held 
bravely. 

Jack watched the engine anxiously, attending 
to the lubricating devices and adjusting the gas 
mixers. The machine was behaving splendidly, 
and Jack felt that if only the connections between 
the gas bag and the car would hold they might 
still weather the fury of the gale. 

He knew that these tropical hurricanes while 
furious are often not of very long duration. He 
stuck to his post, keeping hope alive in his heart, 
while the others pluckily enough endured the sit- 
uation without flinching. 

All at once, the wind stopped as suddenly as if 
it had been cut off at a gigantic spigot. 

The calm, after that raging, furious gale, was 
positively startling. 

^Hs the storm over?’’ asked Ned. 

'‘No. It’s only just beginning,” was the alarm- 
ing response from Captain Andrews. 

"I understand you now,” came fronf Mr. Jes- 
son suddenly; "it’s a circular storm.” 


212 


THE BOY lYVEYTOES’ 


''Thafs it, sir. In a few minutes it will be 
blowing just as hard out of the west as a few 
minutes ago it was blowing from seaward.^' 

'We’d better put the craft about,” said Tom. 

"Yes; bring her round as quick as you can,” 
said Jack. "Goodness! how queer this sudden 
calm feels.” 

It was indeed an uncanny feeling. So still 
had the air become that a candle might have been 
lighted and its flame would hardly have flickered. 

Through this stagnant atmosphere the Flying 
Road Racer was worked around till her bow was 
pointing seaward. 

"Gracious!” exclaimed Tom, "if the wind 
doesn’t come from the quarter Captain Andrews 
expected we’ll be blown to bits.” 

Jack said nothing. Any reply he might have 
made was, in fact, cut short at this moment by a 
moaning sound from the direction of the moun- 
tains. It was caused by the wind sweeping 
through the canyons and deep abysses that 
scared them. 


WIKELESS TEIUMPH 213 

‘Tut on full speed, Tom,'' urged Jack; “the 
faster we are going when that wind strikes us 
the less chance there will be of our being ripped 
to bits." 

The greatest speed of which she was capable 
was placed on the Flying Road Racer. The in- 
dicator showed in turn fifty, sixty, sixty-five and 
then seventy miles! 

Just as she attained this remarkable speed the 
wind struck the straining air craft with its full 
velocity. 

“Fo' de Lawd's sake!" shrilled out Jupe, “we 
done bin gone dis time fo' shoh." 

But he was wrong. The stout fabric of the 
wonderful craft withstood even the terrific as- 
sault now made upon her. But her forward mo- 
tion suddenly ceased. Caught in the vortex cre- 
ated by the meeting point of the two conflicting 
storms, she was whirled round and round as if 
she had been gripped in a maelstrom of the winds. 

The boys could do nothing to control this nau- 
seating, dizzying, rotating motion. Upward and 


214 THE BOY lYVENTOES^ 

upward the Flying Road Racer was forced, 
climbing at terrifying speed the aerial circular 
staircase. One by one her occupants succumbed 
to the effects of the rapid circling. It caused 
a helpless, miserable feeling similar to seasick- 
ness and quite as prostrating. 

'‘Back! back! Go down lower!'' shouted Cap- 
tain Andrews in Tom's ear. 

"We can't," yelled the lad; "we're being 
dragged to the sky. We've lost all control." 

"Oh, but this is fearful!" exclaimed Mr. Jes- 
son. "Nothing made by human hands can stand 
this much longer." 

Truly it seemed a marvel that the craft had 
held together as long as it had. So fast were 
they being swung round and round by this time 
that the car was suspended at quite a sharp angle, 
swinging outward from the gas bag by the force 
of the centrifugal motion. 

It was terrifying, awe-inspiring, prostrating. 
Not one of those clinging for dear life to the dizzy 
car had ever had such an experience, and one or 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 215 

two among them had faced death not a few times. 

All at once there came a sharp snap from 
above them. 

To their overstrung nerves it sounded like a 
pistol shot. 

''One of the wires has parted!’’ cried Ned in a 
terror-stricken tone. 

"It is the beginning of the end,” groaned Cap- 
tain Andrews, sinking his head in his hands. 

"Can nothing be done?” gasped out Mr. Jes- 
son, who alone of all that pallid-faced crew could 
find his voice at that instant. 

"Nothing,” was the reply. "In ten minutes or 
less every wire holding us to that gas bag will 
have parted like that one.” 

"And then?” 

"And then, my friend, we shall be dropped five 
thousand feet through space.” 


216 


THE BOY INVENTOKS’ 


CHAPTER XXII. 

A VOYAGE OE TERROR. 

This dire prophecy was, however, not destined 
to be fulfilled. To the intense joy of the air trav- 
elers, the circular motion ceased almost as sud- 
denly as it had begun, and the rest of the wires 
remained intact. Evidently, the Flying Road 
Racer had encountered a cross current of wind at 
the great altitude she had now attained, which 
brought her safely out of the aerial whirlpool. 

It was an almost miraculous escape, and they 
were all duly thankful when once more their voy- 
age was resumed on an even keel. 

But the wind still blew hard, and it was im- 
possible for them to stem it without running too 
grave a risk to attempt such a task. 

In this way an hour or more passed, and then 
suddenly Jack, who had been looking out ahead, 
gave a startled cry. 


WIEELESS TRIUMPH 


217 


“What’s the matter?” asked his father. 

“Matter? Good heavens, we are beings blown 
out to sea!” 

While he spoke the Flying Road Racer was be- 
ing hurtled along at a dizzy sped above bending 
tree tops and a storm-stressed expanse of country. 
Tom had brought the craft much lower, and it 
was now not more than five hundred feet above 
the earth. Beneath them the landscape whizzed 
by like a colored moving picture. 

But the peril Jack had called attention to lay 
directly in front of them. Beyond the trees came 
a strip of white beach, and beyond that again the 
vast troubled expanse of the heaving ocean bil- 
lows, lashed into fury by the storm. 

Their situation was indeed critical. 

“We’re going from bad to worse,” exclaimed 
Mr. Jesson. “Is there no way of landing?” 

“Not without the risk of killing or injuring 
most of us,” rejoined Jack soberly. 

“Why — why, then we’ll be compelled to fly 
above the ocean ?” 


218 THE BOY INVESTORS’ 

'Ht looks that way. I don't see what else w^e 
can do." 

“But in that case we shall be in grave danger ?" 

“I don't think the danger will be much greater 
than the one we have faced. We have plenty of 
gas still, and can keep in the air for a long time 
if need be." 

“A week?" asked Captain Andrews. “These 
hurricanes sometimes last as long as that." 

“I don't know that we could hold out for a 
week," admitted Jack; “but I do know that we 
cannot avoid being blown out to sea. If the 
storm does not abate we are likely to be compelled 
to spend some time above the water." 

“Well, the wind is coming out of the south- 
west now. If we keep on this way we ought to 
be blown clear across the Gulf of Mexico and on 
to the western shore of Florida." 

It was Captain Andrews who vouchsafed this 
last remark. 

“I don't know that that would be a bad idea," 
commented Professor Chadwick. 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 


219 


^'How long ought it to take us, going at this 
rate of speed?'' inquired Abner Jennings. 

“Let's see, the least distance across would be 
about fifteen hundred miles." 

“Then, at the rate we are being driven, it 
would take about twenty- four hours to make the 
passage," calculated Mr. Jesson. 

“About that time — yes," agreed Jack. “I really 
think we had better try to do that." 

All agreed that it appeared to be the best plan. 

While they had been discussing this, they had 
passed over the last few miles of dry land. Look- 
ing down now they saw beneath them a vast ex- 
panse of gray, tumbling billows, tossing and roll- 
ing before the wind. 

“If we ever took a tumble into the sea it would 
be all up with us," commented Jack in a low voice 
to Tom. 

“Yes; even a ship could hardly live in such a 
storm, and yet — look. Jack, back yonder, — isn't 
that, — yes, surely it's a craft of some sort !" 

The lad indicated a point to the southward of 


220 


THE BOY lYVENTOES’ 


them. Rising and falling in the great trough of 
the billows was a small vessel of some sort. For 
an instant Jack thought it was the Tarantula, but 
the next moment he made out that the vessel they 
were looking at had two masts and a yellow fun- 
nel amidships. 

But another shift of the wind gave them some- 
thing else to think of right then. 

The blast ''hauled round/^ as mariners call it, 
and shifted to the south. The Flying Road 
Racer’s head was twisted around to the north 
and she was deflected from her course to the east- 
ward and the hoped-for Florida coast. 

"What shall we do now?” cried Ned Bangs, 
when he observed this. 

"Keep on running before the wind. It’s all we 
can do,” rejoined Jack. 

The storm-beaten air craft, with its heavy hu- 
man freight, was now being driven almost due 
north along the coast. Tom kept the prow 
pointed so as to bring the course almost parallel 
with the coast. All the time both he and Jack 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 


221 


kept a keen lookout for a possible landing place. 

But none appeared. The wind, instead of dy- 
ing down, grew stronger as the day went on. 

‘What will be the end of this?’’ was the 
thought that crossed the minds of all of them in 
one form or another. 

The sun was obscured by scudding clouds, be- 
low them rolled the dismal, desolate expanse of 
salt water, for by this time they had passed over 
the peninsula of Yucatan and were out over the 
open gulf. In the distance to the westward, 
however, lay a dim coast line, and Tom steered 
toward it. 

Suddenly there came a loud, ripping, crashing 
sound. 

As he heard it Jack gave a cry of dismay. It 
was echoed by Tom and Ned, who both instantly 
guessed what had occurred. 

The rudder had given way under the strain. 

Looking over the side of the car they could 
see it being swept away by the wind, while astern 
of the tonneau hung a mass of tangled wreckage* 


322 THE BOY INVENTOES^ 

''Good heavens! This is the worst yet/’ 
groaned Captain Andrews. "Adrift in an air- 
ship without a rudder! What under the starry 
dome can we do now ?” 

"Nothing but hope and pray for the best/’ re- 
joined Jack. "We are helpless indeed without 
the rudder.” 

Fortunately, however, the propeller still 
worked, and Tom, abandoning the now useless 
steering wheel, gave all his efforts to aiding Jack 
in attending to the engines. 

The aerial screw helped to keep the Flying 
Road Racer on a straight course, and onward she 
flew, a disabled but still staunch craft. 

"Is there anything that we can do to help you ?” 
asked Professor Chadwick, after a while. 

"Dere ain’t nuffin’ would help now but about a 
squar’ mile ob good dry Ian’,” gloomily remarked 
Jupe. 

Tom shook his head, and so did Jack. 

“No, Father,” said the latter, “there isn’t a 
thing to be done. So long as we can keep the 


WIBELESS TEIUMPH 223 

engine going, though, we can manage, at least, 
to keep before the wind.’^ 

‘We’re getting closer to the coast,” cried Mr. 
Jesson suddenly. 

They were indeed. The forms of distant hills 
and forests could now be made out, and hope be- 
gan to revive that they might, after all, find a 
spot to make a safe landing. 

“The wind has shifted again,” announced Cap- 
tain Andrews, glancing over Tom’s shoulder at 
the compass. “It’s blowing out of the east now, 
and if it holds will drive us upon the Mexican 
coast.” 

Hardly had he made this announcement than 
there was an alarming cracking, snapping sound 
from the bow of the Flying Road Racer. 

A dark, sharp-pointed object whizzed through 
the air, and the next instant there. came a sudden 
sound of ripping fabric, followed by a hissing 
noise as of escaping steam. 

“Great jumping sea serpents, what’s, happened 
now ?” bellowed Captain Andrews. 


224 THE BOY INVENTORS^ 

''A blade of the propeller has torn loose from 
its hub and pierced the gas bag/' shouted Jack in 
an alarmed tone. 

''We're falling!" suddenly screamed out Abner 
Jennings. 

"Bound for Davy Jones' locker, sure as fate !" 
bawled one of the sailors. 

"Get out the life jackets!" yelled Tom at the 
top of his voice. "They are in that locker on the 
right-hand side of the tonneau." 

All this time the Flying Road Racer was slowly 
descending. The broken propeller blade had 
ripped a big hole in the side of the gas bag, 
through which the vapor was rushing forth. 

"Isn't it possible to repair it?" cried Mr. Jes- 
son. 

Jack shook his head. 

"Impossible," he said. "We had better all get 
on life jackets as quickly as possible. It's lucky 
I had them put in that locker; but something I 
read about an airship being blown out to sea 
some months ago made me think of it." 


WIEELESS TEIUMPH 225 

As quickly as possible all of them invested 
themselves in the cork-lined jackets, which were 
covered with stout canvas. 

'Xook! look!’’ cried Jack suddenly, ‘'isn’t that 
an island ahead of us I” 

Captain Andrews pierced the gloom with his 
keen eyes. 

“It is I It’s an island, sure enough !” he cried 
joyfully. “If we can make it we are saved.” 

But the Flying Road Racer settled lower even 
as he spoke. 

The angry sea beneath looked savage and cruel 
as it leaped upward toward them, as if impatient 
for the end to come swiftly. 

Ahead lay the island; a large one, with a 
sandy beach extending in their direction. Could 
they reach it before the air craft sank into the 


waves ? 


226 


kTHE BOY INVENTOES’ 


CHAPTER XXIII. 

TH^ BOY INVENTORS SOI.VE A PROBI^JJM. 

The engine had been shut off, and amidst a 
dead silence, so far as any talk was concerned, 
the Flying Road Racer drifted down toward the 
island. 

But the gas had escaped so rapidly and the 
weight in the car was so great, that the island 
was still a few hundred feet off when they first 
felt the wind-driven spray dashing against their 
faces. 

*^Can we make it?'^ asked Mr. Jesson in a low, 
tense voice. 

‘T think so,’’ replied Jack; ^‘at any rate, if we 
can’t, we have the cork jackets on and must swim 
for it.” 

As he spoke, though, the disabled flying craft 
settled suddenly downward. Above her the col- 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 


237 


lapsed gas envelope was wrinkled and flabby, and 
barely kept^her up. 

All at once the crest of a huge wave dashed 
against the bottom of the aluminum tank. The 
Flying Road Racer careened so far over that for 
a moment it looked as if her end had come. 

But at the same moment the wind blew stronger 
and caught the half-empty gas bag. This raised 
the crippled craft a few feet and drove her for- 
ward. The impetus thus given was sufficient to 
save the adventurers from a dangerous swim. 

With a crash that might have been audible at 
some distance had there been any one to hear it 
the Flying Road Racer landed in the sand of the 
island beach at precisely one-thirty on that day 
of stirring events in the young inventors’ lives. 

Thanks to the shock absorbers, the auto part 
was not harmed seriously. Five minutes after 
they had landed the adventurers stood in a group 
surveying the stranded craft. 

‘What a wreck!” exclaimed Mr. Jesson, gaz- 


228 


THE BOY mVENTOKS’ 


ing at the flabbly wrinkles of the gas envelope 
and at the wound in its side. 

The Flying Road Racer did, indeed, look differ- 
ent from the trim craft that had arisen from the 
deck of the Vagrant not so very long before. 

But how much had transpired in those few 
hours ! If time might be reckoned by events the 
boys could record that they had passed through 
years of experience since Jack and Captain An- 
drews struck out on the forest path leading to 
the plantation houses. 

"What a mess!'’ breathed Abner Jennings, 
echoing in part Mr. Jesson’s remark. 

""It’s my opinion that we ought to thank Provi- 
dence for getting off with our lives,” said Cap- 
tain Andrews stoutly. And to this sentiment 
they all heartily agreed. 

""Can you ever repair her, Jack, do you think?” 
asked his father anxiously. 

Jack, who had been surveying the wreck care- 
fully, was not yet ready to give an opinion, how- 


ever. 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 


229 


^Tf we could fix that rip in the gas bag it might 
be possible to patch her up,” he said dubiously. 
''There is, — or ought to be, — a spare propeller on 
board, and if the engine is working, it might be 
feasible to put the craft in order once more.” 

"Well, we’d better run her up out of the 
reach of the waves anyhow,” said Tom.” 

The air craft had grounded at the margin of 
the beach, and the spray of the thunderous waves 
showered her as each broke. 

The two sailors and the others came forward 
to lay hands on the Flying Road Racer, and shove 
her up the beach. But Jack had a better plan in 
mind. 

"If the motor is working, I’ll run her up under 
her own power,” he said. 

He followed up these words by getting into the 
driver’s seat, and after Tom had removed the 
wreck of the propeller, his cousin started up the 
engine and threw in the clutch connecting it with 
the driving machinery. 

The rear wheels flew round in the sand for a 


330 


THE BOY INVENTOKS’ 


minute, but as the boy applied more power they 
gripped the surface and the Flying Road Racer 
— an automobile now — moved rapidly up the 
beach. Jack ran her in under a grove of trees 
and then shut off the engine. 

'Hf only we weren't on an island," he said, 
^Ve could run right through to the city of 
Mexico !" 

‘'Gee, I wish we could," said Ned Bangs, “it's 
a question of how long the grub will hold out on 
this island, and we don't know if any ships come 
this way." 

“Easy enough to find out," said Tom rather 
carelessly. 

“Easy enough?" echoed Ned. “Well, Tom 
Jesson, you'll have to show me. Here we are, 
cut off from all communication " 

Tom smiled and shook his head. 

“Not while we've got the wireless," he said. 

“What do you mean, Tom?" asked Mr. Jesson. 

“That when I left the Vagrant I brought her 


WIEELESS TEIUMPH 


231 


wireless apparatus with me/' said Tom in a quiet 
tone. ‘^That's what those bundles were." 

''Good," exclaimed Mr. Jesson. "We’ll have 
something to eat and some hot coffee, and then 
we’ll try to get into communication with the 
shore, or some vessel, and get them to take us off 
this desolate place." 

But Jack, who had been looking about the is- 
land in their vicinity, dampened their enthusiasm 
by a sudden question. 

"How are you going to fix an aerial?" he 
asked. 

"Easy enough," said Tom confidently; "some 
tree will do. Ned Bangs, here, can climb it. 
Luckily I loaded a lot of copper wire with the 
other stuff. We can use that for antenna." 

"Why, you monkey!" cried Jack, half laugh- 
ing, "there isn’t a tree on the island." 

This fact, which none of them had noticed be- 
fore, was evidently so. The island was covered 
with a scrub growth, but nowhere did the bushes 
exceed a height of ten feet. 


232 


THE BOY IHVENTOES’ 


Professor Chadwick broke in on their dejec- 
tion. 

''Come/" he said, "it"s no use our discussing 
anything now. Let us have a good meal and then, 
maybe, we"ll hit upon some plan."" 

While Jupe made his preparations for a warm 
meal, selecting a spot sheltered by brush not far 
from the remains of the Flying Road Racer, the 
boys gathered driftwood, of which there seemed 
to be plenty on the beach, and made a big pile 
of it. This was lighted, and the warmth of the 
blaze proved very comforting to the chilled cast- 
aways. 

As Professor Chadwick had predicted, the meal 
served to put new heart into them. As they ate 
they discussed their situation in all its bearings, 
but without arriving at any conclusion as to their 
future course. 

If they could not get a wireless message to 
some station on land or ship, their situation looked 
as if it might speedily become serious. They did 
not dwell on this aspect of the case, however, but 


WIEELESS TRIUMPH 


233 


made a determined effort to be as cheerful as 
possible. 

After dinner, if such the meal could be called, 
Professor Chadwick and Mr. Jesson set out to 
explore the island. The others, except Jack and 
Tom, lay down to sleep, being thoroughly ex- 
hausted by what they had gone through. 

The two lads, however, felt too excited to sleep. 
Instead, they fell to figuring how it would be pos- 
sible to send out a message telling of their plight, 
without having a tall pole or tree to which to 
string their aerials. 

The problem was perplexing, and they threshed 
it over and over for an hour without arriving 
any nearer a plan for getting their wires into the 
air. It was Jack who finally hit upon what was 
literally an inspiration. 

Close to them, while they had been talking, lay 
the pile of life jackets they had taken off when 
they landed. 

‘Ts there any of that liquid rubber for repair- 
ing the tires in the Flying Road Racer?'’ he in- 


234 THE BOY INVENTORS’ 

quired of Tom, with seeming meaningless curi- 
osity. 

'Why, yes; there’s a gallon can of it. But 
why?” 

"You’ll see directly. Will you get it?” 

"Yes, of course,” rejoined Tom, rising from 
his seat on the sand. "Anything else?” 

"That needle and stout thread in the gas bag 
tool kit and — well, I guess that will be all for 
now.” 

"I wish I knew what you are driving at,” said 
Tom, as he moved off to get the things Jack had 
asked for. 

"I’m driving at a way to get those aerials up,” 
rejoined the young inventor briefly. 

When Tom returned with the articles Jack had 
asked for, he found his cousin busily engaged in 
taking the cork out of one of the life jackets. 
This was easily done, as it was in granulated 
form. 

Having emptied the jacket, the boy heated some 
of the liquid rubber over Jupe’s fire till it was 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 235 

about the consistency of cream. This done, he 
proceeded to coat the canvas of the empty life 
jacket with the compound. Before he did this, 
however, he sewed a patch on over the hole he 
had made to drain the cork, leaving a bit of rub- 
ber tube, also found in the supply locker of the 
Flying Road Racer, sticking out. 

Tom, after a few minutes, began to realize 
dimly what the ingenious lad was doing; but he 
didn’t get the full understanding of Jack’s idea 
till the latter, having allowed the rubber coating 
to dry, walked toward the Flying Road Racer 
with it. 

“I see what you’ve made now. Jack,” he cried. 
'Tt’s an airproof canvas bag, and you’re ” 

‘'Going to fill it with gas and see if it will rise,” 
said Jack. 

As he spoke he placed the end of the rubber 
tube he had left protruding from the canvas life 
jacket, over a small stop-cock on the gas tank of 
the Flying Road Racer. When he turned the 
valve a hissing sound followed and the rubber- 


236 THE BOY INVENTOES^ 

coated life jacket began to fill, just as any air- 
tight envelope would have done. 

When it was half full a laughable thing oc- 
curred, giving abundant evidence of the bag’s 
buoyancy. Jack, who was holding it, was sud- 
denly lifted ofif his feet as the bag began to rise, 
tearing the end of the rubber tube ofiF the valve 
as it did so. Just as he was lifted into the air, 
for he actually couldn’t make up his mind to let 
go of his invention, Tom seized his feet and 
dragged him to the sand again. A rope was se- 
cured and the bag lashed to a bush after the end 
of the tube had been tied. 

“By cracky !” cried Tom, “that’s the invention 
of the century. How on earth did you come to 
think of it?” 

“I suppose old Mother Necessity had some- 
thing to do with it,” said Jack ; “but the fact that 
those life jackets lay right close to us helped a 
lot. I reasoned it out that they would float on 
the water, and therefore, if they could be emptied 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 


237 


and made air-tight, they would rise when filled 
with gas equally well/' 

''And you're going to hitch the aerials on to 
that one and send them up?" 

"I'm not sure that one of them will be enough 
to raise such a weight of copper wire. I guess 
we'll make another one." 

"And I'll help you," cried Tom enthusiastic- 
ally. 

Half an hour later when Mr. Jesson and his 
brother-in-law returned from exploring the is- 
land, which they had found to be a desolate spot 
some five miles off shore, they found two busy 
lads. 

The wires had been strung on "spreaders" cut 
from the brush. Then one of the ends was con- 
nected to each of the buoyant "balloons" that 
were to carry the antenna aloft. 

In the lee of the Flying Road Racer the boys 
had arranged the wireless equipment, and were 
now occupied in securing the lower end of the 


238 THE BOY. INVENTOKS^ 

antenna and adjusting the connecting wires from 

the aerials to the instruments. 

At last all was ready, and the two canvas ^'bal- 
loons” were cut loose. Slowly but steadily they 
rose, carrying with them the strands of copper 
wire, — five of them, each one hundred feet in 
length. The wind had died down quite a lot, and 
there was not much strain on the wires as they 
were pulled skyward like the string of a kite. 

As the wires tightened and became extended 
to their full length the boys broke into a cheer. 
Held by the captive ‘'balloons,'' the five parallel 
wires made as effective an aerial as if they had 
been rigged to a lofty pole. 

“Boys," exclaimed Professor Chadwick proud- 
ly, “that's what I call a real wireless triumph !" 

“Wait and see if it works first, father," said 
Jack, with a happy smile. He had not much 
doubt on this point, having solved the vexatious 
problem of getting his wires aloft. 


WIEELESS TEIUMPH 


239 


CHAPTER XXIV. 

AN APP^AIv FOR HFI/P. 

^What are you going to do now?’^ asked Tom 
of Jack, who, with the receivers clamped over 
his ears, was seated at the wireless apparatus. 

It was the middle of the afternoon, the storm 
had blown itself out and the sun was shining 
cheerfully. 

About the young inventors pressed the cast- 
aways, — for they had been awakened, — Captain 
Andrews, so that he might make an observation 
and get their exact position, and the rest to be on 
hand if need arose. 

Jack had just flashed out the location of the is- 
land, and with it a fervent appeal for help. From 
the balloon-supported wires above him, the mes- 
sage had gone shooting forth into space. 

But as yet no answer had come, though the 


240 THE BOY INVENTOES’ 

lad sat with the transmitting switch open, wait- 
ing for a reply. 

‘‘Maybe there are no ships in this part of the 
Gulf,’’ said Tom. 

“Well, with the power we have from that dy- 
namo we ought to have gotten into communica- 
tion with something before this,” said Jack im- 
patiently. He turned his head toward the dy- 
namo of the Flying Road Racer, which had been 
connected with the wireless apparatus and was 
whizzing away merrily. The motor, fed by a 
fresh supply of gas obtained by dumping in a new 
lot of crystals, of course supplied the motive 
power for the current maker. 

“Try again,” suggested Professor Chadwick. 

Jack threw over the switch to connect the 
transmitting appliances, and began manipulating 
the key once more. 

The message of distress crackled and flashed, 
like the snapping of a whip lash, — or, more truly, 
a thousand of them. 

Jack was utilizing every atom of power he 


WIEELESS TEIUMPH 241 

could obtain. He calculated that he had at least 
one hundred and ten volts of current, which 
should be ample to send his messages for a great 
distance. 

After sending for a while he stopped and lis- 
tened. But no message came beating against his 
ears, breathing a spirit of hope. 

“Try sending out a C. Q. D.,’’ said Abner Jen- 
nings. 

“You mean S. O. S.,'’ rejoined Jack. “C. Q. D. 
isn’t used as an urgent call any more. Too many 
would-be jokers used to send it out and cause 
endless confusion.” 

He threw the switch again into a sending posi- 
tion, and began to flash out another message. 

o o o — — — o o o 
“S. O. S/’ 

It was the most urgent call known to seamen. 
The despairing cry of the wrecked — the lost. 

Again and again Jack volleyed it out, and the 


243 


THE BOY INVENTOKS’ 


far-flung appeal went skyrocketing off on the 
electric waves, spreading like the ripples on a 
pond from the tightly stretched aerials. It was 
signed ‘‘The Chadwick Party.’’ 

Then the lad tried listening again. 

Suddenly a look of joy flashed over his face. 

“He’s getting an answer !” yelled Tom in huge 
excitement. Ned Banks, hardly less enthusiastic, 
capered about. 

Jack’s pencil traced the message from space on 
a pad of paper placed on an empty box before 
him. 

“What is it? What’s the matter?” 

Once more he began sending furiously. 

“We have been driven on a desert island off 
the Mexican coast.” 

“Where is it?” came the reply. “Give latitude 
and longitude.” 

Jack swiftly flashed back the required informa- 
tion. Then he asked a question. 

“Who is this?” 

“The Sea King,” was the astonishing reply. 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 


243 


‘‘We are coming to your aid. Have you got the 
gems ?’’ 

“Yes. They are safe, and we are all well, but 
in need of help,'’ the lad sent back with a joyous 
heart. 

He listened for a reply, but none came. In 
fact, there was no need for more communication. 
The castaways knew what they wanted to know 
most of all, namely, that they would be taken off 
the island as soon as possible. In the meantime. 
Professor Chadwick ordered Jupe to prepare a 
royal spread in celebration of the event. 

“We look like a lot of pirates," commented Jack, 
as, after a hearty meal, they lay stretched about 
the fire. 

“I suppose that, like most boys, you have a 
sort of admiration for those gentry?" inquired 
Captain Andrews. 

“Well, he's stuffed his head with enough books 
about them," chuckled Tom. 

“Guess that applies to you, too," parried Jack, 
with a grin. 


2U 


THE BOY INVENTOES^ 


'‘I don't suppose, though, that either of you 
ever saw a real pirate," commented the captain 
quietly. '1 can tell you they are mighty different 
beings from the red-sashed, romantic sort of 
chaps you read about." 

‘Why, have you ever seen any?" asked Jack, 
sitting up eagerly. 

“Yes, and fought with 'em, too. Care to hear 
the yarn?" responded the seaman. 

The boys' prompt affirmative removed all 
doubts on this score and Captain Andrews, with- 
out further preliminaries, struck into his tale. 

“It was a good many years ago," he said, 
“when I wasn't much bigger than you lads. But 
for all that I was acting as third mate on a sail- 
ing packet running from Liverpool to the West 
Indies. The skipper, whose name was David 
Munson, was a stern man, but kind enough. He 
had a curious way of keeping to himself, though, 
and the men said that some time before he had 
been attacked by sea-robbers, who had cut him 
down and captured his wife and child, who sailed 


WIEELESS TEIUMPH 245 

with him. But the rascals had not thought it 
worth while to take him and left him for dead 
on his burning vessel. For they, according to 
their usual custom, had set it on fire before they 
sailed away. 

‘‘Captain Munson recovered consciousness in 
the nick of time to stagger out of the path of 
the flames. A boat lay astern of his craft and 
he had just strength enough left to slide down 
a rope into this and cast off. Then he lost con- 
sciousness once more. 

“For three days he drifted in this way, lying 
all the time in a dead swoon. On the third day 
he was picked up, more dead than alive, by a 
Bristol line clipper, which brought him back to 
England. 

“It was many a long day before he got about 
again and it was then found that he had lost all 
recollection of the tragedy and appeared to think 
that his vessel had perished in a storm. But, ex- 
cept for this, his mind was clear enough and he 
found little difficulty in getting a new command. 


246 THE BOY INVENTOES^ 

This was the West Indiaman Cambrian Hills, of 
which I was third mate. Captain Munson's story 
was related to me by the first mate, a man named 
Sterling, a fine seaman and a good fellow. This 
Sterling had been on board the ship that the 
pirates had captured and had been made prisoner 
by them. But later he had managed to make his 
escape from the South American city to which 
they had taken him to be sold as a slave. 

‘^Reaching England, he found that his former 
skipper, whom he had thought dead, was alive 
and in good health, but that his mind was hope- 
lessly clouded as to the past. In fact, he did not 
recognize Sterling, and Sterling, fearing the 
consequences of reminding him of what had oc- 
curred on the Spanish main, made no move to 
awaken his slumbering memory. This was the 
strange story Mate Sterling told me one stormy 
night on watch. 

‘'Well, on this particular voyage the Cambrian 
Hills came in for the buffeting of her life. Heavy 
gales, head seas, and violent squalls beat the 


WIKELESS TRIUMPH 247 

craft about day after day. And at last up came 
a terrific gale from the northeast, which carried 
us away off our course and down off the coast 
of Brazil. 

^^Now, as it so happened, this was the very 
worst place we could have been driven to at this 
particular time. One of those little wars that 
were then eternally harassing the South Ameri- 
can republics had just come to an end and the 
seas thereabouts were swarming with piratical 
craft. These gentry called themselves privateers 
and carried government papers, but were, to all 
intents and purposes, pirates and nothing more 
nor less. 

''Following the gale, the weather fell into a 
regular condition of doldrums. Sometimes it 
blew a light wind, but more often a dead calm 
till it seemed that we were doomed to haunt the 
Brazilian coast for the rest of our lives. The 
men grew restive. It was insufferably hot and 
the calking in the deck seams fairly bubbled and 
boiled. 


248 THE BOY INVENTOKS’ 

"‘Thus passed an entire week and the only man 
on board whose nerves were not on edge was 
Captain Munson. He appeared not to worry or 
chafe over our situation in the least. This was 
the more curious, inasmuch as Sterling had in- 
formed me that the seas in which we lay were 
the very identical ones in which the fatal battle 
with the pirates who had looted Captain Mun- 
son’s last command had taken place. 

“One morning just after breakfast I was 
standing against the taifrail, with Sterling by 
my side, idly gazing horizonward for a sign of 
coming wind. All at once I saw Sterling clap 
his telescope to his eye and gaze intently off into 
the southeast. 

“‘Wind?’ says 1. 

“ "No,’ says he. 

"" "Well, what then?’ says I. 

"" "A sail,’ says he. 

"" "Then they must be getting more wind than 
we are,’ says I. "What do you make her out 
to be?’ 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 


349 


'' ‘Can’t tell yet ; but somehow I don’t much 
like the look of her.’ 

“He handed me the glass. 

“ ‘Take a look yourself,’ he said. 

“I squinted through the telescope and at last 
made out the distant sail. She was a black brig- 
antine, low in the water and with a rakish sort 
of look about her masts and spars. The water 
over around her was dark blue — of a deeper 
tinge than the ocean surrounding us — showing 
that the wind was blowing off in that direction. 

“ ‘She doesn’t show any colors,’ says I, hand- 
ing the glass back to Sterling. ‘What do you 
make her out to be?’ 

“He shrugged his shoulders. 

“ ‘I don’t know, laddie,’ he said, ‘but she looks 
to me like a war vessel of some sort. Maybe a 
Brazilian craft’ 

“ ‘Well, whatever she is,’ says I, ‘she’s got the 
wind with her and it’ll hit us in a minute.’ 

“ ‘That’s right,’ says he, coming out of a sort 


250 THE BOY INVENTOES’ 

of a reverie. 'Get your yards squared and your 

courses braced up.’ 

"I hastened to put these orders into execution, 
and hardly had they been completed when the 
long awaited wind struck us. The Cambrian 
Hills heeled over and began to move through the 
water. 

"The crew set up a cheer as we began to get 
under way and the noise brought the skipper on 
deck. He looked more than usually grave and 
had a Bible, which he had evidently been read- 
ing, in his hand. 

" 'Wind at last, Mr. Sterling?’ he said quietly. 

" 'Aye ! aye, sir,’ said the mate. ‘I knew the 
luck was bound to turn,’ he added. 

" 'There is no such thing as luck, Mr. Ster- 
ling,’ said the captain in his quiet, grave way. 
'All is the doings of Providence.’ 

"Then he turned and moved away, but Ster- 
ling was at his side in a minute. 

" 'There’s a sail off there to windward, sir. 
Will you take a look at her and tell us what you 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 


351 


think of her? You know it pays to be suspicious 
in these waters, and I don’t much like her looks.’ 

“In his usual serious manner the skipper took 
the glass and gazed through it at the brigantine, 
which, to my eye, was sailing two feet to our 
one, and overhauling us fast. He gazed at her 
a long time and when he set the glass down his 
face was working curiously. He clapped his 
hand to his forehead as if something there hurt 
him. 

“ H — I — There’s something strangely familiar 
about that craft, Mr. Sterling,’ says he, 'but, for 
the life of me, I can’t tell what it is.’ 

“ 'Looks to me like a man-o’-war of some sort, 
sir,’ says Sterling. 

''He took up the glass again and scrutinized the 
stranger. Then I saw the color begin to die out 
of his red, good-natured face till it grew white 
as a corpse. 

'' 'It’s an armed vessel, sir,’ he grated out 
through his clenched teeth, 'and — and she’s 


252 THE BOY INYENTOES’ 

just broken out the Black Flag,— the skull and 

cross bones, sir !’ 

'A pirate, eh ?’ said Munson quietly, and I 
noticed the same curious expression pass across 
his face. It was the strained look of a man try- 
ing to recall something that eludes him persist- 
ently. Well, Mr. Sterling, she’s faster than 
us. We must fight for it, sir,’ he said at length. 

‘Aye, sir,’ says Sterling gravely, ‘I’ll call the 
men aft and explain to them. Andrews, my lad, 
you attend to distributing the weapons.’ 

“Every West Indiaman in those days carried 
a small arsenal of weapons — ^blunderbusses and 
cutlasses — for attacks by roving bands of sea- 
robbers were not infrequent. The men took the 
news well enough, although one or two of them 
went white. But there were enough old veterans 
among them to keep them steady and prevent a 
panic. 

“I guess the resolute bearing of Captain 
Munson and Mr. Sterling had a good deal to do 
with putting heart into them. As for myself, I 


WIEELESS TEIEMPH 


253 


was horribly scared inside, but I trust that my 
alarm did not appear too conspicuously on my 
countenance. 

‘'The men gave a cheer as Captain Munson 
concluded his little speech and I summoned three 
of them below to assist in the distribution of the 
arms. In the meantime Mr. Sterling gave orders 
to the men to rig up as many dummies as possible 
and station them along the bulwarks so that we 
might seem to be more in number than we ac- 
tually were. This was a common enough trick 
in those days. 

‘T have to smile even now when I think of it, 
but one good fellow in his zeal even clapped a 
cap on top of the galley chimney, although what 
a man would have been doing poking his head 
out of ‘Charley Noble’ — as the cook-house stack 
is called by seamen — is hard to say. By the time 
all our preparations were completed the craft 
that was overhauling us was not more than half 
a mile astern. 

“She was a handsome craft and a witch at sail- 


254 


THE BOY INVENTOES^ 


ing. The Cambrian Hills was accounted a fast 
vessel, but we weren’t in it with our pursuer. If 
we had had any doubt as to her intentions to- 
ward us till then she soon dispelled it. From her 
bow came a flash and a puff of smoke and a ball 
screamed through our rigging. It did no harm 
— wasn’t meant to, probably — but it showed us 
that they 'meant business.’ 

"The Cambrian Hills carried an old brass can- 
non, more for saluting purposes than anything 
else. But we had slugs on board and the piece 
of artillery was loaded up. But the enemy, as we 
now rightfully regarded her, was too far off 
for our carronade to be effective as yet. She, on 
the other hand, appeared to have a serviceable 
heavy gun. All this was not encouraging, but 
the prospect grew worse as we swept their decks 
with the glass. Fully forty men lined her bul- 
warks and we numbered only twenty, including 
the cook, who was not accounted a first class 
fighting man. Of him, however, more anon. 

"I was a young fellow then and had always 


WIKELESS TRIUMPH 


255 


thought of pirates as being chaps all covered 
with finery, gold lace and jewels and such. I 
was stricken with astonishment to see that no 
such men appeared on the brigantine. They were 
all filthy, wretched looking things, many of them 
being coal-black negroes. Among them were 
even one or two Chinese. Such a mixture of 
races I never saw before or since. 

''Suddenly Captain Munson, to my astonish- 
ment, snatched up his speaking trumpet and 
hailed the pirate, who was now almost alongside 
and to windward. 

" 'Ship ahoyr 

"His voice was as bold as if he had been skip- 
per of a man-o'-war hailing a sea criminal. It 
was a bold move, but it was successful in pro- 
ducing some confusion among the pirates. All 
at once a giant of a man with a black beard 
stepped up on the pirate’s rail, holding on by the 
lee forestays. 

" 'Hullo !’ he hailed in a foreign accent. 


256 THE BOY lYYENTOES’ 

“ What ship’s that ?’ hailed Captain Munson 
again. 

^None of your business. Heave to. I want 
to board you/ was the reply in an insolent voice. 

‘You go plumb to blazes!’ came from Ster- 
ling, who was a hot-tempered chap and could 
contain himself no longer. 

“At that very instant a puff of wind blew the 
man’s black beard aside. He clutched at it des- 
perately, but somehow he bungled the job, and to 
my utter astonishment — it came off! He stood 
revealed as a man of huge frame with a brutal 
bull-dog jaw and unmistakable Latin cast of fea- 
tures. But I had little time to notice this, for a 
strange cry had broken from Captain Munson’s 
lips as the man’s disguise blew off. He turned 
deathly pale and staggered like a drunken man. 

“Sterling and I rushed to his side. We thought 
for a minute that he was about to faint. But he 
rallied and stared at us for a moment wildly. 

“ ‘Good Lord !’ exclaimed Sterling, ‘it’s all 
come back to him!’ 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 257 

“Then I understood. That man who had 
hailed us was the captain of the same piratical 
band that had attacked Captain Munson’s other 
ship and carried off his wife and child. The 
next instant following Sterling’s exclamation 
was a dramatic one. 

“ ‘You know me, sir?’ asked the mate. 

“‘Yes! Yes! You’re Robert Sterling,’ burst 
from the captain’s lips. T recall it all now. The 
fight! That ruffian struck me down. I woke 
up to find you all gone. But, Sterling, how do 
you come to be here, — and — and where are Bess 
and the baby?’ 

“I felt sorry for Sterling then. His face went 
as white as the captain’s visage and he actually 
shook as if from cold. But he had to answer. 

“ ‘Better off than if they were in the hands 
of those ruffians, sir,’ he replied in a low voice 
which shook perilously, ‘they are ’ 

“ ‘Dead !’ burst out the captain, with a terrible 
cry. 

“Sterling bowed his head. 


258 THE BOY INVENTORS’ 

“ ‘Your wife leaped overboard rather than be 
sold down the coast as a slave/ he said slowly, 
‘and — and she took the baby with her/ 

“I did not dare to look at Captain Munson^s 
face. But I could hear his breath come short 
and quick, just like a man breathes after a long, 
hard swim. But the next instant we had other 
things to think of. A volley of small arms from 
the pirate craft whistled about our ears. She 
was up to windward and evidently meant to 
grapple and board us. What followed is hard to 
describe. I don’t know how most men feel in a 
fight of that character, but it seemed to me that 
I was in a dream. I fired and loaded, and fired 
and loaded, while all about me bullets were fly- 
ing and fallen men groaning. Splinters flew as 
the pirate’s volleys raked our rails. I was sud- 
denly conscious of being wounded, but I fought 
on, actually hardly knowing what I was doing. 

“Suddenly the pirate’s sails loomed close along- 
side. Our yardarms locked with his. Grappling 
irons were thrown aboard us and the whole horde 


WIRELESS TRIEMr:: 259 

of ruffians tried to board us by main force. But 
they met with such desperate resistance that they 
were compelled to retreat for the time. Right 
here is where the cook figured. Just as things 
looked most critical he turned the tide for us. 
Attached to a huge boiler in his domain was a 
hose, used for washing stains out of the decks. 

“While we had been arming he had made up a 
roaring fire. By the time the pirates boarded us 
there was enough boiling water in the boiler to 
make that hose an effective weapon. Yelling like 
an Indian, the cook turned it on the scrambling 
mass of rascals. The stream of boiling water 
was more effective than bullets. With yells and 
cries they fell back, some of them scalded hor- 
ribly. 

“All this time I had lost sight of Captain Mun- 
son. Now I glimpsed him, just in time to see him 
leap into the main chains and from thence on to 
the bulwarks of the pirate ship. His face was 
fixed and terrible and held an expression of des- 
perate resolve. Cutlass in hand, he fought his 


260 


THE BOY INVENTOES’ 


way through the demoralized pirates and at last 
I saw, in a flash of understanding, his purpose. 
His object was to find out, and kill with his own 
hands, the pirate chief. Hardly had I realized 
this before the men encountered each other. Ap- 
parently the pirate recognized Munson instantly, 
for I saw him recoil as if he had seen a ghost. 
But the next instant he had recovered and began 
to fight desperately for his life. 

''In the meantime some of our crew had cut the 
two vessels apart, and before any of us recovered 
his wits and started to the captain^s rescue the 
two craft had drifted so far asunder that it 
was impossible. With horrified fascination we 
watched the fight, and if it held us spellbound it 
appeared to have the same effect on the pirate 
crew; at any rate, none of them interfered. 

''Such a furious fight could not, in the nature 
of things, last long, but it came to an altogether 
unexpected conclusion. Captain Munson’s cut- 
lass had broken off short and he closed with his 
enemy, grasping him about the waist. They both 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 261 

reeled backward — and suddenly vanished from 
sight. A hatchway had been left open, and in 
their blind fury neither had noticed it. Tripping 
on the coaming, they had plunged into it. 

^'Suddenly we heard a shot from the pirate 
craft, and then came a great cry. I could not 
make out what all the yelling was about, and 
turned to Sterling, who seemed equally spellbound 
at the horror of the thing we had just witnessed. 

‘‘ 'What is it? What are they saying?’ I de- 
manded. 

" 'They are shouting that the magazine is on 
fire !’ he exclaimed, 'that a shot fired by the Eng- 
lishman has ignited the powder !’ 

"The words had hardly left his lips before a 
hot blast rushed full at me. I was knocked from 
my feet, saw a vast sheet of flame before me, and 
knew no more. When I came to I discovered 
Sterling bending over me. His face was very 
grave and serious. 

" 'What has happened ?’ I asked weakly. 


262 


THE BOY INVENTORS’ 


'' ‘The pirate ship is blown up/ he replied ; ‘not 
a vestige of her is left/ 

“ ‘And Captain Munson T I demanded, al- 
though I knew what the reply would be. 

“Sterling removed his cap; a last tribute to a 
brave man. 

“ ‘Has gone with her to Jones’ locker,’ he re- 
joined ; ‘maybe it was better so. It would be just 
about here that his wife and baby died.’ ” 

Captain Andrews paused. So ended his story, 
which cast a gloom over the party that was not 
to be dispelled. Soon after, therefore, they re- 
tired, with the picture of the sea captain’s tragic 
death still vividly before their eyes. 

Before joining the others. Jack tried to get into 
communication with the Sea King by wireless 
once more. But he failed. However, this did not 
worry them, as they knew that their friends must 
know where to find them. 

“I wonder when they’ll arrive here,” said Pro- 
fessor Chadwick, as they prepared to spend as 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 263 

comfortable a night as they could on the sand. 
‘'Those repairs were surely effected quickly/' he 
added. 

“Very quickly," said Captain Andrews, who 
alone of the party had not been almost wild with 
delight at the prospect of the rescue. “By the 
way. Jack, you are quite sure that it was the Sea 
King that you were in communication with?" 

“Of course," rejoined the lad rather impa- 
tiently, “who else could it have been ? Who would 
have had any object in trying to pass themselves 

off as the Sea King unless they " 

He stopped short and looked rather blank all of 
a sudden. The idea of Herrera had just crossed 
his mind. And then that ship that they had seen 
laboring in the stormy sea that afternoon? 

“Pshaw !" said the lad to himself ; “she had two 
masts and a yellow funnel, there's no chance of 
that being the Tarantula ” 

When he voiced this belief aloud later on, the 
others agreed with him. But Captain Andrews, 
still suspicious, determined, he said, to keep 


S64 THE BOY INVENTORS’ 

watch. The others, almost too tired to keep their 
eyes open, rather ridiculed this precaution, and 
soon sleep enwrapped every one on that desolate 
island. 

Every one? Yes; for tired nature had as- 
serted herself and Captain Andrews, after a hard 
struggle to keep awake, dozed off, woke with a 
start, dozed off again and finally slumbered pro- 
foundly. 

Had he kept his eyes open a while longer he 
would have seen something approaching the is- 
land that would have caused him to keep awake 
with a vengeance. This object was nothing more 
nor less than the Tarantula, disguised cunningly 
by a canvas smokestack painted yellow, and two 
masts. 

Herrera early that day had ascended the river 
and heard of the flight of the prisoners and the 
destruction of his hemp-drying plant. Half crazy 
with fury he kept a watch on the skies and saw 
the Flying Road Racer, high in air as she was. 


WIEELESS TEIUMPH 


2G5 


driven seaward after her perilous experience 
in the circular storm. 

In defiance of the wild weather he at once pre- 
pared to put to sea disguising his ship, as he had 
done on other occasions, as she dropped down the 
river. 

He had seen the storm-racked air craft as she 
flew above him. He had observed her, in fact, at 
the very moment that the adventurers espied his 
tossing craft. To his chagrin, however, she passed 
out of sight. But he held on in the direction 
she had vanished determined not to give up the 
chase of those precious stones till he had ex- 
hausted every means of trying to obtain them. 

Just as he was despairing of ever hearing of the 
Flying Road Racer again. Jack’s ^‘S. O. S.” mes- 
sage had come winging across the sea. As soon 
as his operator gave him the despatch the rascal 
conceived the daring plan of impersonating the 
Sea King and in this guise he flashed back the 
message inquiring the position of the castaways. 
He took care to ascertain that the gems were safe. 


266 


THE BOY INVEHTOKS’ 


While profound and peaceful sleep wrapped 
the party of adventurers, a boat landed on the 
beach, crowded with men. It came from the T a- 
rantula, which had anchored about two hundred 
yards to seaward. Every man was armed and 
among them was Herrera with one or two of 
his chosen aides. 

Their plans had been formed before they land- 
ed and they silently sneaked up on the castaways’ 
camp. They were agreeably surprised to find no 
sentries posted. 

According to previous plans, each man of the 
crew carried ropes and gags. The sleeping party 
was surprised without warning and tied and 
gagged without a chance of their presenting any 
opposition. Each of the Chadwick party, as they 
awakened under the rough handling of the hench- 
men of Herrera, was given a strong hint not to 
resist, in the form of a pistol barrel pressed to the 
nape of his neck. 

As resistance would have been worse than use- 
less all submitted quietly to the outrage, and Her- 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 


267 


rera’s triumph appeared to be complete. When 
they all had been secured the marauders com- 
menced a frantic search for the great silver jewel 
casket. They found it without much difficulty un- 
der the professor's coat which he had used as a 
pillow. Not expecting any attack he had not 
taken much pains to conceal it. 

Herrera burst into a loud laugh as he opened 
the casket and took out the three great flashing 
stones it contained. 

'‘So you thought that you could trick Herrera, 
eh, you stupid Yankee," he snarled, "but I caught 
your message by wireless, you dogs of gringos. 
I spit on you and despise you. The jewels you 
thought to steal are now mine. But see — Herrera 
is generous. He leaves you the box!" 

As he spoke the ruffian flung the silver cas- 
ket to the sand and then, with some gruff orders 
to his men, strode off across the beach. A few 
minutes later the splash of oars informed the 
marooned castaways that their foe had departed 
taking with him the gems they had gone through 


268 


THE BOY INVENTORS’ 


so much to save intact ; and not only that, he took 
with him also their hopes of being rescued. From 
what he had said about the wireless, it was clear 
that he had intercepted the message for aid, and 
thus been guided to the island. The Sea King 
had not received word from them at all. 

With what bitter feelings they reviewed the 
situation may be imagined. And it did not relieve 
the misery of their present position, as they lay 
gagged and helpless, to reflect that if they had 
kept a guard, the disaster might not have hap- 
pened. They had been trapped like so many un- 
thinking children. 


WIEELESS TEIUMPH 


269 


CHAPTER XXV. 

DJ:aTH to RE:mAIN 

Jack struggled and strained at his bonds, as, 
in fact, all the rest of the party were doing. To 
his delight, after a brief period of struggling, he 
managed to loosen them considerably. The work 
of tying up the party had been done hastily, and, 
consequently, the knots were not very hard to 
loosen. In fact, all that Herrera had wanted, 
was to keep them quiet till he had looted the 
treasure of the gems. 

When Jack had worked his hands free he 
pulled the gag out of his mouth, and then, after 
undoing his ankle bonds, he drew out his knife 
and rapidly liberated his companions. 

''Well, a fine mess IVe made of it,’’ grumbled 
out Captain Andrews, as soon as he was free. 

"I don’t see that you were any worse than 
the rest of us,” said Professor Chadwick; "in 


270 THE BOY lYVENTOKS’ 

fact, it was you who had a keen enough mind to 

guess that our message might have been received 

and answered by another craft than the Sea 

Kingr 

‘Which it was,’' put in Mr. Jesson. 

“Yes; but I kept watch for a while,” contritely 
said the captain, “and — Fm bitterly ashamed to 
say it, — I fell asleep at my post of duty.” 

“For which we don’t attach a bit of blame to 
you,” said Professor Chadwick; “what we had 
passed through was enough to exhaust a giant. 
To tell you the truth, I almost feel relieved now 
that the gems are gone.” 

“The natives had a legend that they brought 
bad luck,” said Mr. Jesson, “and indeed they 
seemed to.” 

“I hope they bring evil fortune to that greaser 
who has them now,” struck in Abner Jennings. 

The two sailors added their growling assent to 
this wish, nor could any of the party refrain from 
echoing it. 



Jack liberated Captain Andrews. 



WIEELESS TEIUMPH 


271 


suppose he’s got clear away,” hazarded Ned 
presently. 

''Of course he has,” grunted Captain Andrews. 
"I’ll bet there’s twenty miles between him and 
this island right now. And, incidentally. I’m 
ready to bet as to his future.” 

"What will it be?” asked Jack, with some curi- 
osity. 

"Why, he’ll throw up his governorship, — the 
Diaz government is on its last legs, anyhow, — 
and skip out to Paris. He’ll sell those gems over 
there and — live happy ever afterward.” 

"Why Paris?” asked Mr. Jesson. 

"Oh, all those scallywags go over there when 
they’ve made their graft,” laughed Ned; "they 
won’t tolerate them any other place, I guess. 
When I was over there with my folks two years 
ago we saw more princes and exiled presidents 
from South America than you could shake a stick 
at. You couldn’t have thrown a brick on the 
main boulevards without hitting some ruler who 
had left his country for his country’s good.” 


270 


THE BOY mVENTOES’ 


‘"All of which disquisition/’ said Professor 
Chadwick dryly, “doesn’t solve our problem.” 

“No, indeed,” said Mr. Jesson; “we are as 
badly off as before.” 

“Worse,” exclaimed Jack. 

“How’s that?” asked Tom. 

“Well, haven’t we lost those gems?” 

“Oh, bother the old gems,” said Tom, “we’ve 
got the box, haven’t we? If any one in the 
States doesn’t believe we ever had the three gems 
we can show them the casket as proof that we 
really did have them once.” 

As he spoke he picked up the box from the sand 
where Herrera had flung it, and handed it to the 
Professor. 

“It will make a handsome relic of our trip at 
all events,” said that gentleman, with half a sigh. 
“I guess I’ll present it to some institute interested 
in such things.” 

“Pity those bumps on the cover aren’t precious 
stones,” said Ned, indicating the three dull-col- 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 


273 


ored knobs on the cover. 'Wonder what they 
are there for?’’ 

"To make the box look nobby,” ventured Tom, 
a pun which almost cost him a clip on the side of 
the head. 

But they were soon recalled to the seriousness 
of their situation. In the east the day was begin- 
ning to dawn, and a return to sleep was out of 
the question after all that had occurred. 

"I guess I’ll get to work with the wireless,” 
said Jack, "it’s our only hope.” 

"Unless we could swim ashore,” said Captain 
Andrews. "It isn’t more than five miles ofiF.” 

"True. But from what we could see yesterday 
it is a rugged, inhospitable shore,” said Mr. Jes- 
son. 

"Most anything would be better than this, 
though, so long as it was the mainland,” said 
Ned. 

"Yes, if only the old Flying Road Racer would 
have kept in the air half an hour longer,”* 


274 THE BOY INVENTOES^ 

groaned Tom, ‘Ve might have used her as an 
auto to reach some civilized spot/’ 

'We could easily have done that,” struck in 
Jack. "The engine and running gear are in per- 
fect order. So far as that is concerned, she is 
ready for a road trip of a thousand miles right 
now.” 

"You ought to have fixed it so she could swim, 
while you were about it,” said Ned. 

He meant the remark as a joke; but Jack an- 
swered quite seriously. 

"Fve been thinking over such a plan,” he said ; 
"maybe some day I’ll get to work and invent 
something that will make the good old craft as 
capable in the water as she is on land and in the 
air.” 

"Wish you could invent it right now,” began 
Ned with a laugh. "I ” 

He stopped short with a puzzled look, which, 
oddly enough, was reflected on all their races the 
next moment. 


"My legs are wobbly !” cried Tom. 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 


275 


the trident of Neptune/’ roared Captain 
Andrews, ‘'so are mine !” 

“It’s not our legs!’ cried Mr. Jesson, “it’s the 
ground that’s moving!” 

“The whole island is quivering like jelly !” cried 
Ned. 

“Good land, what ails de place? It’s done got 
chills and feber !” shouted Jupe from his pots and 
pans, which were now rolling in every direction. 

The tremor grew stronger. Accompanying it 
was a queer, moaning sort of sound. All at once 
there came a violent convulsion, and they were all 
thrown flat. The roaring noise increased till it 
was almost deafening. 

“It’s an earthquake!” called out Professor 
Chadwick. 

“An earthquake?’ cried the others in terrified 
tones as they rolled about. 

Suddenly, not far from them, a great ragged 
fissure yawned in the earth and almost instantly 
closed again. From that moment, for the ensu- 
ing ten minutes, the castaways were in a condi- 


276 


THE BOY lYYENTOKS’ 


tion bordering on panic. With the very earth un- 
der their feet refusing them support they felt 
that they were, indeed, in a sorry plight. 

At the conclusion of the period of time men- 
tioned, the shocks stopped as suddenly as they 
had begun. 

‘'Do you think there’ll be any more of them ?” 
asked Tom in rather a quavery voice. 

“Impossible to say,” said Mr. Jesson. “I im- 
agine that this is a continuation of the one that 
caused that cliff to collapse, which resulted in my 
escape from those Indians.” 

“I suspect that is it,” said Professor Chadwick. 
“The great storm may have also resulted from 
the generally disturbed conditions. We may 
have no more shocks and we may have a dozen.” 

“I’ve known cases of whole islands being 

swallowed in the South Seas ” began Abner 

Jennings gloomily. 

But Professor Chadwick stopped him. 

“If you can’t talk of something more cheerful, 
my man, don’t talk at all,” he said. 


WIEELESS TEIUMPH 


277 


‘'And tidal waves, too, that wiped out whole 
cities like Galveston,’’ muttered Jennings, in a low 
tone, however. 

“There is no reason to expect that another 
shock will occur,” resumed the Professor; “the 
very nature of these seismic disturbances results 
in ” 

“Wow! Glory to Goshen, here comes annud- 
der one!” bellowed Jupe, dropping a frying pan 
with a clatter and throwing himself flat on his 
face. 

The others followed his example. Indeed, it 
was impossible to remain on one’s feet. The 
mighty earth waves undulated like the billows of 
the sea. 

This shock lasted longer than the other, and 
was more severe. When it was over they arose 
to their feet considerably unnerved by the con- 
vulsion of nature. 

“Do — do you think there is any danger of this 
island sinking. Professor ?” asked Ned in a shaky 


voice. 


278 


THE BOY INVENTOES’ 


'H do not/’ rejoined the other with a confidence 
that he was very far from actually feeling, how- 
ever. see no evidence of any volcanic forma- 
tion hereabouts.” 

''Maybe de ole Mudder Earth done got a bad 
tummy ache,” hazarded Jupe. 

"I wish she’d get it in her foot, then,” grum- 
bled Ned. 'T don’t — say. Jack,” he broke off sud- 
denly, "am I seeing things or is that beach nar- 
rower than it was ?” 

A worried look passed over Jack’s face. 

"I’m afraid your eyesight is all right, Ned,” 
he said. "The water is closer than it was, beyond 
a doubt.” 

"And that means?” gasped Captain Andrews. 

"That we are sinking,” calmly said Professor 
Chadwick. "There is no use deceiving ourselves. 
Jack, send out a call for aid. There may be a 
chance of some ship catching the message.” 

Jack sent an appeal flashing forth from the 
wireless. Then he listened as usual for an an- 


swer. 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 279 

It came, but not in the way he had expected. 
He flung the receivers from his ears with an an- 
gry expression. 

“It’s that rascal Herrera,” he said. “He inter- 
cepted the call.” 

“The villain! What did he say?” demanded 
Mr. Jesson. 

“He said that we could stay here till the island 
sank, for all he cared, and added that Diaz had 
been driven out of Mexico, and that he was off to 
Europe with those gems.” 

“Dat dere coffee-colored man is de worst no 
’count trash I ebber done heard of,” announced 
Jupe solemnly, while the others stood thunder- 
struck at such pitiless behavior. 

Before they could utter a word of comment, 
however, another shock struck the island. And 
>his time it caused an amazing thing to happen. 
The centre of the isolated spot of land had been 
quite an elevation. During this spasm of the 
earth, however, an astonishing change took 
place in the form of the island. The “crown” 


280 


THE BOY INVENTOES^ 


of the sandy little place sank until it was de- 
pressed into a sort of cup. On the outer rim of 
this odd subsidence of the island, were the ad- 
venturers who looked with alarmed eyes on this 
freak of the earthquake. It mean only one thing, 
and that was that if another shock occurred and 
the land sank any further, that the sea must over- 
whelm it utterly. 

While they were still looking over the altered 
scene. Captain Andrews gave a shout. 

''Shiver my timbers,’' he cried, "look yonder, 
will you?” 

The subsidence of the centre of the island, of 
course, gave them a clear view of the distant 
shore and of the neck of water between it and the 
island. 

An astounding thing had happened, as the ad- 
venturers could now see. Although they had 
not known it, the island had once formed part 
of the mainland, and a narrow neck still con- 
nected it at a depth of only a few feet at low 
water. It was now low tide, and the earthquake. 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 


381 


while it depressed the central part of the island, 
had performed a still more astonishing freak. 

It had raised this narrow neck linking it to the 
shore till it was quite a few inches above the level 
of the water, making a causeway of wet sand be- 
tween the island and the mainland ! 

Jack was the first to grasp the significance of 
this. He gave a glad shout as he did so. 

‘^Hurrah! We are saved he cried. ^‘The 
earthquake has saved us!” 

'‘What?” demanded his hearers, not quite so 
quick- thinking as Jack. 

"Don't you see?” exclaimed the boy. "We can 
drive the Flying Road Racer ashore over that 
neck of sand as easily as if we were taking a spin 
in the park.” 

"But suppose another shock causes the neck 
of sand to subside again ?” asked Mr. Jesson skep- 
tically. 

"We must take our chances of that,” Tom an- 
swered him. "In any case, it means death to 
remain where we are.” 


282 


THE BOY INVENTOES’ 


CHAPTER XXVI. 

AN astounding discovery 

As Jack spoke, the island gave another trem- 
bling shake. It was only a slight one, but it 
warned them that, in all probability, there were to 
be more violent shocks succeeding it. 

It was plain enough that their escape, if it was 
to be made at all, must be made quickly. Jack 
and Tom at once set about dismantling the wire- 
less station and packing the apparatus. 

The hastily extemporized life jacket balloons 
were hauled down and the wires coiled. When 
this had been done. Jack told everybody to take 
their seats in the car, on the top of which the dis- 
mantled gas bag had been folded by the captain 
and the two sailors, while Abner Jennings helped 
Jupe to pack up. 

Jack took his seat last of all and started the en- 
gine going. It worked without a hitch, and the 


WIEELESS TEIUMPH 283 

auto, — a flying machine no longer, — moved off 
across the sand, heavily laden as it was, without 
difflculty. 

The rim about the submerged centre of the is- 
land was soon circumnavigated, and the begin- 
ning of the narrow neck of land reached. Then 
Jack fairly “let the car out.’' 

The newly formed isthmus was hard, and the 
car flew over it under the full power of its en- 
gines. 

“Mighty good t’ing dere ain’t no speed laws in 
dis part ob de world,” grunted Jupe as they flew 
along. 

The shore appeared to rush toward them, but if 
they had hoped to see any signs of human habita- 
tion as they drew close to it they were mistaken. 
Nothing but a mass of trees, backed by rising 
ground, appeared along the coast as far as the 
eye could reach in either direction. 

As they sped along they heard behind them a 
sudden mighty uproar. Gazing back they saw 
the ocean heaving and boiling all about the island 


284 THE BOY INVEYTOES’ 

they had left, as if it had been a witches' caldron. 
Great jets of water shot up, and the surface of 
the sea wasdiecked with foam and spume. 

The sight fascinated every one of them but 
Jack, who had to be intent on his driving. 

''The whole island is going!" shouted the Pro- 
fessor. 

He was right. 

With a sudden booming roar and upheaval of 
the ocean, the entire mass of land sank under the 
waves, which for a long time boiled and simmered 
above it. Just as the last vestige of the island 
vanished, leaving only the newly created penin- 
sula projecting from the land, they reached the 
solid earth. 

Their dash to the mainland had taken place 
only just in time. A little more delay, they real- 
ized with shudders, would have meant their total 
annihilation. 

"I said the island would go," cried Abner Jen- 
nings triumphantly. "Fve seen 'em vanish like 
that in the South Seas." 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 385 

No one had any comment to make. The hor- 
ror of what they had just witnessed struck them 
all dumb. The gratitude they felt to Divine Provi- 
dence for their lucky rescue filled their hearts to 
overflowing, and left no room for speech. 

The Flying Road Racer was stopped, and they 
silently gazed for a long time at the bubbling, 
heaving waters. 

The sight was impressive, even if it did cause 
a shiver and inspire a feeling that bordered on 
fear. 

After a while the Professor spoke. His tone 
was as solemn as his words. 

''Boys,"' he said, addressing his young friends, 
"we have just witnessed something . that many 
scientists would give a great deal to behold." 

"Well, candidly," said Tom, "Fve seen enough 
of it." 

So had they all, in fact, and the Flying Road 
Racer was soon turned north, following a rough 
road that ran parallel with the sea-coast. 

It was now late afternoon, and the shadows 


2SG THE BOY INVENTOKS’ 

were lengthening apace. Before long the swift 
tropic night would overtake them. Although 
they had arrived at a determination to continue 
traveling north till they arrived at a large city, 
where a telegraph wire could be found, they did 
not care to risk advancing over the rough, half- 
formed road in the darkness, so a halt was made 
where a small stream of fresh water ran down 
to the sea, and they prepared to spend the night 
there. 

It was somewhat chilly and a roaring fire was 
built around which they seated themselves after 
the evening meal. All were rather silent and 
abstracted, and there was no inclination for con- 
versation. The Professor had brought out the 
silver casket and was examining some queer 
marks like hieroglyphics on its cover. 

^T’ni sure they have some sort of meaning,’’ he 
remarked to Mr. Jesson, 'Tut it’s beyond me to 
make out what it can be. See if you can do any 
better.” 

He handed the box to his brother-in-law to ex- 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 287 

amine. But in the transfer it was fumbled, and 
before Mr. Jesson could save it the silver casket 
rolled toward the fire, only stopping when it was 
embedded in a mass of embers. 

It was raked out with a stick by Mr. Jesson 
before it was damaged. He set it aside to cool 
before examining it, and in the meantime the boys 
took occasion to observe it more narrowly than 
they had yet found opportunity to do. 

"‘Say, I thought that those knobs on the top 
were dull-colored!’^ exclaimed Jack Chadwick 
suddenly. 

“Why, so they are!” rejoined Mr. Jesson. 
“Some sort of inferior stone, I guess. They ” 

“But they are not dull ! Look !” 

Risking burning his fingers. Jack seized the 
still warm casket and held it toward his elders. 

On the cover, embedded in the silver, flashed 
and winked in the firelight, three magnificent 
gems, red, blue, green ! 

“Let me look at that a minute. Jack,” exclaimed 
Professor Chadwick in sharp, excited tones. 


288 


THE BOY INVENTORS^ 


He took the box from his son, and an instant 
later his head and Mr. Jesson's were close to- 
gether over the rifled silver casket. 

^Well, gentlemen?’^ said Ned after a while. 

‘Well,'^ echoed Professor Chadwick, '^we have 
made a most astounding discovery. These gems 
which Jack discovered, — for they are genuine, 
there’s not a doubt of it, — must have been covered 
with wax of some sort. The heat of the fire, when 
the box fell into it, melted this substance, and — 
well, here are three gems worth, conservatively, 
two hundred and fifty thousand dollars ; probably 
a great deal more.” 

The listeners looked at him in amazement. 

''But what were the gems that Herrera took 
out of the casket, then?” demanded Jack, when he 
found his voice. 

"Imitations, undoubtedly,” was the reply of 
Mr. Jesson. "The tribe that owned the genuine 
stones adopted this cunning means of concealing 
the real ones by coating them with wax of some 
sort. Then they placed inferior gems, or cunning 


WIEELESS TEIUMPH 289 

imitations, within the box, trusting to the cu- 
pidity of any one who stole them not to investi- 
gate further/’ 

And so it proved afterward. The stones, 
which the strange and seemingly trivial accident 
had revealed, turned out to be as fine specimens 
of their respective kinds as there are in existence. 
They were appraised at six hundred and eighty 
thousand dollars, but cryptic carvings on the back 
of them made them of infinitely more value to 
science as specimens of the treasures of a van- 
ished race. 

Despite their keen excitement over the discov- 
ery that, after all, Herrera had not decamped with 
the precious stones, the adventurers slept soundly 
and peacefully that night. 

When they awakened the daylight was spark- 
ling on land and sea, and Jupe was filling the air 
with appetizing aromas proceeding from, his 
cooking fire. 

It was while they were in the midst of the 


290 THE BOY INVENTOES’ 

morning meal that Jack sprang to his feet with a 

shout. 

''The Sea King! the Sea King!” he cried, point- 
ing seaward. 

About half a mile off shore, steaming leisurely 
along, was a fine-looking white yacht that the 
Professor speedily pronounced to be, indeed, the 
Sea King, 

"The wireless, Tom, as quick as you can,'’ 
called Jack, and the two lads at once set about 
sending their life-jacket balloons aloft. 

This time the message that Jack sent out 
reached the persons it was intended for, and an 
hour later a boat came ashore and the castaways 
found themselves among their friends. 

Repairs had been effected in record time on the 
yacht, and those in charge of her had determined 
not to wait longer at Lone Island, but proceed 
south at once. They were urged to this course, 
also, by news from Mexico that the revolution- 
ists had triumphed, and that Diaz had abdicated. 

We should like to chronicle more of the adven- 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 291 

lures of the Boy Inventors on this trip, but the 
exigencies of space forbid it. Suffice it to say 
then, that while the Professor, the rescued ex- 
plorer and the rest, including Captain Andrews, 
voyaged to Lone Island and thence home on the 
Sea King, the boys drove the Flying Road Racer 
through Mexico, and reached home in that way 
by the overland route. They had many exciting 
times, but none so filled with peril and inci- 
dent as their career on the gulf had been. 

In due time the Vagrant was also recovered 
and sent home by the newly formed Madero gov- 
ernment. Of Herrera, all trace was lost for a 
time. But ultimately he was heard from in 
Paris, whither, as had been prophesied, he had 
fled when the Diaz government fell. But he is 
not leading the life of a luxurious refugee there. 
Far from it. The gems he had stolen with the 
exercise of so much villainy and planning, proved 
to be, as Professor Chadwick had conjectured, 
mere cheap imitations worth very little except as 
specimens of Maya workmanship. Herrera, when 


292 


THE BOY lYVENTOES^ 


last heard from, was acting as a head waiter in 
an humble Mexican restaurant in the Latin quar- 
ter of the French capital. 

The genuine gems were sold to a New York 
millionaire, and when he dies will be seen in his 
private museum, which will then be opened to the 
public. The proceeds were shared, by the wishes 
of Professor Chadwick and Mr. Jesson, with 
the faithful crew of the Sea King, each, from 
Captain Andrews down, receiving a due portion. 
A handsome monument was also erected above 
the grave of poor Kettle, who fell in the battle 
with the Mayas. 

Professor Chadwick did not fulfill the object 
of his cruise in finding a new form of biologic 
life ; but he often says that he established some- 
thing far more precious, — namely, the safety of 
his long-lost brother-in-law, Tom Jesson’s father. 

One morning, not long after the household at 
High Towers had settled down to its ordinary 
routine, a telegram came for Jack. It contained 
astonishing things, things which were — though 


WIRELESS TRIUMPH 


293 


he didn't guess it at the time, — to open up an en- 
tirely new field of invention for him and his 
chums, Tom Jesson and Ned Bangs. 

The message stated, — but positively, we must 
keep all that for another telling. In our next 
volume we will relate further astonishing and 
stirring occurrences in the lives of our ingenious, 
progressive young friends. The title of the forth- 
coming book will be The: Boy Inve:ntors and 
Vanishing Gun, — a tale which promises 
to be of extraordinary interest to every American 
boy, brimful and running over, as it will be, with 
experiment and achievement along new and sig- 
nificant lines. 


TH^ END. 



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WIRELESS TELEGRAPH. 

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a peculiar international tangle. The scene is laid on the 
South American coast. 

THE DREADNOUGHT BOYS ON A SUBMARINE. 

To the inventive genius — trade-school boy or mechanic — 
this story has special charm, perhaps, but to every reader its 
mystery and clever action are fascinating. 

THE DREADNOUGHT BOYS ON AERO SERVICE. 

Among the volunteers accepted for Areo Service are Ned 
and Here. Their perilous adventures are not confined to the 
air, however, although they make daring and notable flights 
in the name of the Government; nor are they always able 
to fly beyond the reach of their old “enemies,” who are also 
airmen. 

Any volume sent postpaid upon receipt of price. 

HTTEST & COMPANY - Publishers - NEW YORK 



BUNGALOW BOYS SERIES 

LIVE STORIES OF OUTDOOR LIFE 

By DEXTER J. FORRESTER. 


Cloth Bound, lllnstrated. Price, 50c. per vol., postpaid 

THE BUNGALOW BOYS. 

How the Bungalow Boys received 
their title and how they retained the 
right to it in spite of much opposition 
makes a lively narrative for lively boys. 



■^e -- 

BU/NCALOW 
.o'W BOYS 

DEXTER J FORRESTER 


THE BUNGALOW BOYS MA- 
ROONED IN THE TROPICS. 

A real treasure hunt of the most 
thrilling kind, with a sunken Span- 
ish galleon as its object, makes a 
subject of intense interest at any 
time, but add to that a band of desperate men, a dark plot 
and a devil fish, and you have the combination that brings 
strange adventures into the lives of the Bungalow Boys. 


THE BUNGALOW BOYS IN THE GREAT NORTH 
WEST. 

The clever assistance of a young detective saves the boys 
from the clutches of Chinese smugglers, of whose nefarious 
trade they know too much. How the Professor’s invention re- 
lieves a critical situation is also an exciting incident of this book. 

THE BUNGALOW BOYS ON THE GREAT LAKES. 

The Bungalow Boys start out for a quiet cruise on the 
Great Lakes and a visit to an island. A storm and a band 
of wreckers interfere with the serenity of their trip, and a 
submarine adds zest and adventure to it. 

Any volume sent postpaid upon receipt of price. 

HUBS! & COUPAFY - PubUshers - NEW TOBE 



MOTOR RANGERS SERIES 

HIGH SPEED MOTOR STORIES 

By MARVIN WEST. 

Cloth Bonnd. Illustrated. Price, 50c. per voL, postpaid 

THE MOTOR RANGERS’ 
LOST MINE. 

This is an absorbing story of the 
continuous adventures of a motor 
car in the hands of Nat Trevor and 
his friends. It does seemingly im- 
possible “stunts,” and yet everything 
happens “in the nick of time.” 

THE MOTOR RANGERS 

THROUGH THE SIERRAS. 

Enemies in ambush, the peril of 
fire, and the guarding of treasure 
make exciting times for the Motor 
Rangers — yet there is a strong flavor of fun and freedom, 
with a typical Western mountaineer for spice. 



‘She; 
IMOTORRANGEJJS 
LOST MINE I 

MARVIN WEST<n 



THE MOTOR RANGERS ON BLUE WATER; or, 

The Secret of the Derelict. 

The strange adventures of the sturdy craft “Nomad” and 
the stranger experiences of the Rangers themselves with 
Morello’s schooner and a mysterious derelict form the basis 
of this well-spun yarn of the sea. 


THE MOTOR RANGERS’ CLOUD CRUISER. 

From the “Nomad” to the “Discoverer,” from the sea to 
the sky, the scene changes in which the Motor Rangers figure. 
They have experiences “that never were on land or sea,” 
in heat and cold and storm, over mountain peak and lost 
city, with savages and reptiles; their ship of the air is at- 
tacked by huge birds of the air; they survive explosion and 
earthquake; they even live to tell the tale! 

Any volume sent postpaid upon receipt of price. 

HURST & COMPANY - Publishers - NEW YORK 


MOTOR MAIDS SERIES 



MOTOR MAIDS 
SCHOOLDAYS 

KATHERINE. STOKES 


Wholesome Stories of Adventure 

By KATHERINE STOKES. 

Cloth Boniid. IHnstrated. Price, 50c. per vol., postpaid 

THE MOTOR MABDS’ 

SCHOOL DAYS. 

Billie Campbell was just the type 
of a straightforward, athletic girl 
to be successful as a practical 
Motor Maid. She took her car, as 
she did her class-mates, to her 
heart, and many a grand good time 
did they have all together. The 
road over which she ran her 
I '• < machine had many an unex- 

^ pected turning, — now it led her 

nJ r into peculiar danger; now into con- 

tact with strange travelers; and again into experiences 
by fire and water. But, best of all, “The Comet” never 
failed its brave girl owner. 

THE MOTOR MAIDS BY PALM AND PINE. 



Wherever the Motor Maids went there were lively times, 
for these were companionable girls who looked upon the 
world as a vastly interesting place full of unique adven- 
tures — and so, of course, they found them. 

THE MOTOR MAIDS ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 


It is always interesting to travel, and it is wonderfully 
entertaining to see old scenes through fresh eyes. It is 
that privilege, therefore; that makes it worth while to join 
the Motor Maids in their first ’cross-country run. 

THE MOTOR MAIDS BY ROSE, SHAMROCK AND 
HEATHER. 

South and West had the Motor Maids motored, nor 
could their education by travel have been more wisely 
begun. But now a speaking acquaintance with their own 
country enriched their anticipation of an introduction to 
the British Isles. How they made their polite American 
bow and how they were received on the other side is a 
tale of interest and inspiration. 

Any volume sent postpaid upon receipt of price. 


HURST & COMPANY - Publishers - NEW YORK 


HOLLY BROWN SERIES 

College Life Stories for Girls 

By NELL SPEED. 

Cloth Bound. lUnstrated. Price, 60c. per vol.^ postpaid 

MOLLY BROWN’S 

FRESHMAN DAYS. 

Would you like to admit to your 
circle of friends the most charming 
of college girls — the typical college 
girl for whom we are always look- 
ing but not always finding; the type 
that contains so many delightful 
characteristics, yet without un- 
pleasant perfection in any; the 
natural, unaffected, sweet-tempered 
girl, loved because she is lovable? 
Then seek an introduction to Molly 
Brown. You will find the baggage-master, the cook, the 
Professor of English Literature, and the College President 
in the same company. 

MOLLY BROWN’S SOPHMORE DAYS. 

What is more delightful than a re-union of college girls 
after the summer vacation? Certainly nothing that pre- 
cedes it in their experience — at least, if all class-mates 
are as happy together as the Wellington giris of this 
story. Among Molly’s interesting friends of the second 
year is a young Japanese girl, who ingratiates her “humbly’* 
self into everybody’s affections speedily and permanently. 

MOLLY BROWN’S JUNIOR DAYS. 

Financial stumbling blocks are not the only things that 
hinder the ease and increase the strength of college girls. 
Their troubles and their triumphs are their own, often 
peculiar to their environment. How Wellington students 
meet the experiences outside the class-rooms is worth the 
doing, the telling and the reading. 

Any volume sent postpaid upon receipt of price. 

HUEST & COMPANY - Publishers - NEW YOEK 



GIRL AVIATORS SERIES 

Clean Aviation Stories 

By MARGARET BURNHAM. 

Cloth Bound. Illustrated. Price, 50 o. per vol., postpaid 

THE eiRL AVIATORS AND 
THE PHANTOM AIRSHIP. 

Roy Prescott was fortunate in 
having a sister so clever and de- 
voted to him and his interests that 
they could share work and play 
with mutual pleasure and to mutual 
advantage. This proved especially 
true in relation to the manufacture 
and manipulation of their aero- 
plane, and Peggy won well de- 
served fame for her skill and good 
sense as an aviator. There were 
many stumbling-blocks in their terrestial path, but they 
soared above them all to ultimate success. 

THE GIRL AVIATORS ON GOLDEN WINGS. 

That there is a peculiar fascination about aviation that 
wins and holds girl enthusiasts as well as boys is proved 
by this tale. On golden wings the girl aviators rose for 
many an exciting flight, and met strange and unexpected 
experiences. 

THE GIRL AVIATORS’ SKY CRUISE. 

To most girls a coaching or yachting trip is an adven* 
ture. How much more perilous an adventure a “sky 
cruise” might be is suggested by the title and proved by 
the story itself. 

THE GIRL AVIATORS’ MOTOR BUTTERFLY. 

The delicacy of flight suggested by the word “butterfly/* 
the mechanical power implied by “motor,” the abiltity to 
control assured in the title “aviator,” all combined with 
the personality and enthusiasm of girls themselves, make 
this story one for any girl or other reader “to go crazy 
over.” 

Any volume sent postpaid upon receipt of price. 

HUEST & COMPAmr « Publishers - NEW YOBK 






Capl. Mapryat’s Works 

This writer is cele- 
brated for his Sea 
Stories. They are 
bound to please and 
entertain their read- 
ers and we urgently 
ask that boys obtain 
the complete set of 
six books. No library is complete 
without them. 

Jacob Faithful 

Japhet in Search of a Father 
Masterman Beady 
Mr. Midshipman Easy 
Peter Simple 
Battlin, the Beefer 

Sent anywhere, postage paid, upon 
receipt of Fifty Cents. 

COMPLETE CATALOGUE 
SENT WHEN REQUESTED 

HURST & CO., Publishers, NEW YORK 



C. A. Stephens Books 

An author whose 
writings are famous 
and whose stories are 
brim-full of adventure. 
Boys delight in read- 
ing them. 

We publish six of 
his best. 


CAMPING OUT 

FOX HUNTING 

liSFT ON liABRADOR 
liYNX HUNTING 

OFF TO THE GEYSERS 
ON THE AMAZON 


Sent anywhere, postage paid, upon 
receipt of Fifty Cents. 

Our complete list sent you upon 
receipt of a postal. 

HURST & CO., Publishers, NEW YORK 



BOOKS BY 

Charles Garleton Coffin 

Antbor or 

“ Boys of ’76 
“ Boys ol ’61 ” 

^HARLES CARLE- 
^ TON COFFIN’S 
specialty is books per- 
taining to the War. 
His celebrated writings 
with reference to the 
Great Rebellion have 
been read by thousands. We have popular- 
ized him by publishing his best works at 
reduced prices. 

Following: tlie Flag:. Charles Carleton Coffin 

My Bays and Xig:lits on tlie Battlefield. 

Charles Carleton Coffin 
'Winning: Bis Way. Charles Carleton Coffin 

Six ]Kig:lits in a Block Bouse. 

Henry C. Watson 

Be sure to get one of each. Price, post- 
paid, Fifty Cents. 

Obtain our latest complete catalogue. 

HURST & CO., PubKshers, NEW YORK 




Harry 

Castlemon 

Books 


The popularity enjoyed by Harry 
Castlemon as a writer of interesting 
books for boys is second to none. His 
works are celebrated everywhere and 
in great demand. We publish a few of 
the best. 


BOY TRAPPERS 

FRANK AT DON CARLOS RANCHO 
FRANK BEFORE VICKSBURG 
FRANK IN THE WOODS 
FRANK ON A GUNBOAT 
FRANK ON THE PRAIRIE 
FRANK, THE YOUNG NATURALIST 


Sent to any address, postage paid, upon receipt 
of Fifty Cents. 

We send our complete catalogue free. 


flORST S CO., Pablishers, NEW YORK 


Works of 

J.T. 


Here is an author who is famous — 
whose writings delight both boys and 
girls. Enthusiasm abounds on every 
page and interest never grows old. 
A few of the best titles are given : 

COUPON BONDS. 

CUDJO’S CAVE. 

THE DRUMMER BOY. 

MARTIN MERRYVALE, HIS X MARK. 
FATHER BRIGHT HOPES. 

LUCY ARLYN. 

NEIGHBOR JACKWOOD. 

THE THREE SCOUTS. 

Price, postage paid, for any of the 
above books, Fifty Cents, 

Have You Seen Our Complete Catalogue? 
Send For It 

HURST & CO. Publishers NEW YORK 






Just Issued at a 
Popular Price 


or 


mie Silver Skates 


toy 


niARY IKEAPHS DOROB 

charming story, depicting life in 



Holland, is now published for the first 
time at popular prices. Whether you have 
been to “The Land of the Dykes” or not, 
you will want to read this famous book. 

We make a handsome cloth bound edition 
of it, which we will mail anywhere, post- 
paid, upon receipt of Fifty Cents. 

Ask ns to mall you our complete catalogue 


HURST & CO., Publishers, NEW YORK 



BIOGRAPHICAL 

LIBRARY 

Of the Lives o! Great Men 

A limited line comprising* 
subjects pertaining to the 
careers of men who have 
helped to mould the world's 
history. A library is incom- 
plete without the entire set. 


Benjamin Franklin, Life of — American Statesman and 
Discoverer of Electricity. 

Christopher Columbus, Life of — D iscoverer of Amer- 
ica. 

Daniel Boone, Life of — Famous Kentucky Explorer 
and Scout. 

Daniel Webster, Life of — ^American Statesman and 
Diplomat. 

Distinguished American Orators — ^Who Have Helped 
to Mould American Events. 

Eminent Americans — Makers of United States History. 

John Gutenberg, Life of — Inventor of Printing, 

Napoleon and His Marshals — Celebrated French Gen- 
eral and Commander. 

Orators of the American Revolution — Whose 
Speeches Ring With Patriotism. 

Paul Jones, Life of — A merican Naval Hero. 

Patrick Henry, Life of — Distinguished American 
Orator and Patriot. 

Philip H. Sheridan, Life of — “Little Phil”; Famous 
Union General During the Civil War. 

Washington and His Generals — First President of 
the United States, Revolutionary Army General and 
Statesman. 


Any book mailed, postage paid, upon receipt of 50c, 

Send for Our Complete Book Catalogue. 

HURST a CO. Publishers, NEW YOPK 


Log Cabin fo White 
House Series 

A famous series of books, 
formerly sold at $2.00 per 
copy, are now popularized 
by reducing the price less 
than half. The lives of these 
famous Americans are worthy 
of a place in any library. A 
new book by Edward S. Ellis 
— ‘‘From Ranch to White House” — is a life of 
Theodore Roosevelt, while the author of the 
others, William M. Thayer, is a celebrated 
biographer. 

FROM RANCH TO WHITE HOUSE ; Life of Theodore Roosevelt 
FROM BOYHOOD TO MANHOOD; Life of Benjamin FrankUn. 
FROM FARM HOUSE TO WHITE HOUSE; Life of Georgr 
Washington. 

FROM LOG CABIN TO WHITE HOUSE ; Life of James A 
Garfield. 

FROM PIONEER HOME TO WHITE HOUSE ; Life of Abrahanr 
Lincoln. 

FROM TANNERY TO WHITE HOUSE ; Life of Ulysses S. Grant. 
SUCCESS AND ITS ACHIEVERS. 

TACT, PUSH AND PRINCIPLE. 

These titles, though by different authors, alst 
belong to this series of books : 

FROM COTTAGE TO CASTLE ; The Story of Gutenberg, Invent- 
or of Printing. By Mrs. E. C. Pearson. 

CAPITAL FOR WORKING BOYS. By Mrs. Julia E. M’Conaughy. 

Price, postpaid, for any of the above ten 
books, 75c* 

A complete catalogue sent for the asking. 

HURST & CO. Publishers, NEW YORK 




Few boys are alive to-day 
who have not read some of 
the writings of this famous 
author, whose books are 
scattered broadcast and 
eagerly sought for. Oliver 


Oliver Optic 
fiooKs 


Optic has the faculty of writing books full of 
dash and energy, such as healthy boys want 
and need. 


ALL ABOARD; or, Ufe on the Lake. 

BOAT CLUB; or, The Bunkers of Kippleton. 

BRAVE OLD SALT; or, Life on the Quarter Deck. 

DO SOVIETHINQS; a Story for Little Folks. 

FIGHTING JOE; or. The Fortunes of a Staff Officer. 

IN SCHOOL ^AND OUT; or, The Conquest of Richard 
Grant. 

LITTLE BY LITTLE ; or, The Cruise of the Flyaway. 
LITTLE MERCHANT; a Story for Little Folks. 

NOW OR NEVER,; or, The Adventures of Bobby Bright. 
POOR AND PROUD; or. The Fortunes of Katie Red- 
burn. 

PROUD AND LAZY; a Story for Little Folks. 

RICH AND HUMBLE; or. The Mission of Bertha Grant. 
SAILOR BOY ; or. Jack Somers in the Navy. 

SOLDIER BOY ; or, Tom Somers in the Army, 

TRY AGAIN; or. The Trials and Triumphs of Harry 
"W" 

WATCH AND WAIT; or. The Young Fugitives. 

WORK AND WIN; or. Noddy Newman on a Cruise. 
THE YANKEE MIDDY ; or. The Adventures of a Naval 
Officer. 

YOUNG LIEUTENANT; or. The Adventures of an 
Army Officer. 


Any of tliese boolks will be mailed, postpaid, 
upon receipt of 50c. 

Get our complete catalogue— sent anywhere. 


HURST & GO., Publishers, NEW YORK 













r 


LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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